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NORTH  CAROLINA 

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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


-OF- 


JOHN   G.   FEE, 

.  BEREA,     KENTUCKY. 


PUBLISHED    BY   THE 

NATIONAL  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION., 

CHICAGO,    ILL.; 

iSyi. 

«r**B  UrWE^SJTY  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA 
AT  CKAPSL  K^LL 


5 


Entered  according  to  act  of  Congress  in  the  year  iSqi, 

BY  JOHN  G.  FEE, 

In  the  office  of  the   Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


INTRODUCTION. 

In  consenting  to  write  an  introduction  to  the  Autobi- 
ography of  one  whom  I  have  long  known  and  honored,  I 
desire  to  say  that  the  nineteenth  century  has  not  been 
more  remarkable  for  its  discoveries  in  science,  art,  and  all 
forms  of  material  progress,  than  it  has  for  the  moral  hero- 
is  m  of  many  men  and  women  whose  courage,  faith,  pa- 
tience and  self-sacrifice  have  done  so  much  to  promote 
justice  and  humanity,  and  for  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom.  Among  these  Christian  patriots 
there  is  one  whose  long  life  of  consecration  to  the  good  of 
his  fellow  men  ought  to  be  not  only  an  example  but  an 
inspiration  to  the  youth  of  our  land.  John  G.  Fee,  of 
Berea,  Ky.,  was  born  and  raised  under  the  influences  of 
slavery  and  was  surrounded  by  those  powerfully  conserva- 
tive forces  that  held  many  good  men  to  the  defense  of 
oppression. 

Perhaps  no  other  institution  ever  did  so  much  to  pervert 
all  sense  of  justice  and  to  deaden  all  feelings  of  compassion 
as  that  which  declares  that  under  a  republican  government 
men  might  hold  their  unoffending  fellow  men  in  bondage. 

"Chain  them,  and  task  them,  and  exact  their  sweat, 
With  stripes  that  Mercy  with  a  bleeding  heart 
Weeps  when  she  sees  inflicted  on  a  beast." 

Nay,  more,  it  held  that  this  right  of  property  in  man 
carried  with  it  the  right  to  set  at  naught  the  family  relation 
and  doom  men  to  the  perpetual  ignorance  of  God  and  his 
word. 

The  youth  of  our  land  can  have  little  conception  of  the 
absolute  control  that  half  a  century  ago  the  system  of 
slavery  had  on  the  minds  and  consciences  of  the  nation. 
Nothing  but  a  sublime  faith  in  God  enabled  the  men  and 
women  of  that  day  to  cheerfully  accept  reproach,  ostracism 
and  ridicule  as  inevitable  consequences  of  the  defense  of 
the  poor  and  needy  whose  special   claim   was  that  they 

3 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

were  at  once  the  feeblest  and  most  despised  of  the  children 
of  men.  Nor  has  this  been  the  sole,  possibly  not  the 
greatest,  of  the  moral  conflicts  that  have  demanded  and 
developed  a  true,  moral  heroism.  The  spirit  of  caste,  the 
outgrowth  of  slavery,  was  and  is  not  less  exacting  and 
iniquitous.  To  regard  a  fellow  man  simply  in  his  relation 
to  his  Maker,  and  to  accord  to  him  just  that  appreciation 
that  his  intelligence  and  moral  worthiness  demand,  to  do 
this  without  regard  to  sect  or  color,  is  still  held  in  large 
sections  of  our  country  to  be  a  crime  against  society  which 
will  not  be  tolerated  when  there  is  power  to  suppress  it. 
So,  too,  the  moral  protest  against  oathbound  secret  societies, 
— the  uncompromising  hostility  to  the  liquor  traffic  and  to 
any  form  of  legislative  approval  of  it,  and  above  all,  the 
opposition  to  divisions  in  the  church  of  Christ  as  seen  in 
the  sects  and  denominations,  demand  a  moral  heroism 
which  needs  to  be  not  less  steadfast  and  self-sacrificing 
than  that  which  wrested  from  slavery  its  scepter  of  power. 
Because  Mr.  Fee  was  in  all  these  points  most  uncom- 
promising and  true,  and  because  of  his  indomitable 
perseverance  amidst  abounding  obstacles,  he  has  achieved 
a  large  measure  of  success,  and  won  the  appreciation  of 
even  his  sometime  enemies.  But  Bro.  Fee  is  now  advanced 
in  life.  His  labor,  though  still  efficient  and  valuable, 
cannot  in  the  nature  of  things  much  longer  continue.  His 
reward  is  in  his  works  that  will  follow  him.  In  the 
language  of  the  poet  reformer,  John  G.  Whittier,  as  applied 
to  another,  we  may  say,  "Thanks  for  the  good  man's 
beautiful  example." 

"  His  faith  and  works,  like  streams  that  intermingle, 

In  the  same  channel  ran; 
The  crystal  clearness  of  an  eye  kept  single 

Shamed  all  the  frauds  of  man. 
The  very  gentlest  of  all  human  natures 

He  joined  to  courage  strong, 
And  love  outstretching  unto  all  God's  creatures 

With  sturdy  hate  of  wrong." 

H.  H.  HlNMAN. 


PREFACE. 

Some  six  years  since  a  friend  requested  that  I  prepare 
articles  for  the  Berea  Evangelist,  on  the  topic,  "Berea:  its 
History  and  its  Work."  I  did  so.  The  articles  appeared 
in  the  Berea  Evangelist  during  the  years  1885-6.  Since 
that  time  friends  have  urged  that  I  prepare  a  sketch  of 
my  leadings  and  labors  up  to  my  coming  to  Berea,  and 
embody  the  whole  in  a  volume.  To  do  so  will  now  be 
labor  and  care;  yet  in  this  way  I  may  be  able  to  do  con- 
tinued good, — utter  truth  when  my  tongue  shall  be  silent. 
I  maybe  able  in  an  emphatic  way  to  say  to  the  reader, 
Trust  God — trust  him  for  success,  for  support,  for  life.  If 
in  this  way  you  will  trust  God,  he  by  his  word,  by  his  Spirit 
and  by  his  providence,  will  lead  you  into  the  highest  use- 
fulness of  which,  in  your  day  and  generation,  you  are 
capable.  Often  trials  will  come,  friends  fail,  and  the  heavens 
above  appear  as  brass  and  the  earth  beneath  as  iron,  yet 
if  you  will  holdonwxih.  Jacob,  or  stand  still  with  Moses. 
you  will  see  the  face  of  God;  the  Red  Sea  of  difficulties 
will  open  before  you,  and  you  will  walk  through  dry  shod. 
The  future  journey  may  indeed  be  a  barren,  stony  wilder- 
ness, yet  the  manna  will  be  fresh  every  morning  and  the 
shekinah  of  God  will  go  before  you  and  lead  you  across  the 
Jordan,  where  you  will  eat  the  '-'new  corn"  in  the  land  of 
promise.  To  this  my  own  consciousness  bears  testimony; 
were  I  to  say  less  I  would  not  be  faithful. 

John  G.  Fee. 

Beret,  Ky.,  iSgi. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Parentage.  —  Conversion.  —  College  Life.  —  At  the 
Theological  Seminary. — Deep  Conviction  and 
Consecration. — Field  of  Labor. — Burden  of  Spirit. 
—Sealing  of  the  Holy  Spirit. — Wife  Chosen. — 
Betrothal. — Search  for  the  Field  of  Labor. — 
Marriage. — Called  to  the  Church  in  Lewis 
County. — Anti-Slavery  Sermon. — Cast  out  of  a 
Boarding- place 9-30 

CHAPTER   II. 

A  Home. — Resolutions  of  the  Church. — Salary. — 
Meeting  of  Synod. — Resolutions. — My  With- 
drawal.— Ecclesiastical  Position. —  Union  on 
Christ. — Separation  from  A.  M.  Society. — An- 
ticipated Mob. — Prosecution  of  Hannahs. — In- 
vitation to  C.  M.  Clay. — Expected  Violence. — 
Anti-Slavery  Manual. — Protest  against  Secret 
Orders 31—55 

CHAPTER   III. 

Commission  from  the  A.  M.  A. — Preaching  and 
Church  Building. — Redemption  of  a  Slave 
Woman. — Her  Effort  to  Free  her  Children. — 
Her  Capture  and  Imprisonment 56—71 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Imprisonment  of  a  Colporter. — Assault  on  Myself. — 
House  Burning. — Church  House. — Baptism. — 
Consideration  of  the  Subject. — Baptism  of  My- 
self and  Wife. — Invitation  to  Madison  County. — 
Organization  of  a  Church. — Call  to  the  Church. — 

Selection  of  a  Place. — Name,  Berea 72-93 

7 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Removal  to  Madison  County. — Projected  College. — 
Its  Foundation  Principles. — Survey  of  Fields. — 
Mob  at  Dripping  Springs. — Mob  in  Rockcastle 
County. — Fourth  of  July. — C.  M.  Clay  and  I 
differ. — Mob  in  Rockcastle  County. — Mob  in 
Madison  County. — Dark  Days  at  Berea. — En- 
treaty to  Leave. — Decision  to  Hold  On. — 
Trusts 94-124 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Coming  of  J.  A.  R.  Rogers. — Visit  of  C.  M.  Clay. — 
His  Expediencies. — The  first  Commencement. — 
Adoption  of  a  Constitution. — Caste. — Sectarian- 
ism.— Decision  to  Raise  Funds. — Visit  to  the 
Imprisoned  Mother. — Address  in  Plymouth 
Church. — Expulsion  of  Teachers  and  Friends  at 
Berea. — Excitement  in  Bracken  County. — Wife 
Returns  to  Berea. — Our  Sojourn  in  Ohio. — 
Death  and  Burial  of  our  Son  Tappan. — Visit  to 
Berea 125-160 

CHAPTER   VII. 

Effort  to  Get  Back.— Battle  at  Richmond,  Ky.— 
Again  Mobbed  at  Augusta,  Ky. — Mobbed  at 
Washington,  Ky. — Return  of  my  Wife  to  Berea. 
— Her  Stay  There. — Return  to  the  Border. — Stay 
at  Parker's  Academy. — Return  to  Berea. — Re- 
sumption of  the  Work. — Moved  to  go  to  Camp 
Nelson. — My  Work  There 161-183 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

Return  to  Berea. — Resumption  of  the  Work. — The 
American  Missionary  Association.  —  Work 
Denominational — Divisive. — Association  of  Min- 
isters and  Churches. — Kentucky  Missionary  As- 
sociation.— A  Convention  of  Christians. — An 
Address,  "Wherein  We  Differ  from  the  Denom- 
inations."  184-212 


CHAPTER  I. 

Parentage, — Conversion. — College  Life. — At  the  Theolog- 
ical Seminary. — Deep  Conviction  and  Consecration. 
— Field  of  Labor. — Burden  of  Spirit. — Sealing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. — Wife  Chosen. — Betrothal. — Search  for 
the  Field  of  Labor. — Marriage. — Called  to  the  Church 
in  Lewis  County. — Anti-Slavery  Sermon. — Cast  out 
of  a  Boarding-place. 

I  was  born  in  Bracken  County,  Kentucky, 
Sept.  9,  1816. 

My  father,  John  Fee,  was  the  son  of  John 
Fee,  senior.  He  was  of  Scotch  and  English 
descent.  His  wife,  formerly  Elizabeth  Brad- 
ford, was  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  My 
father  was  an  industrious,  thrifty  farmer. 
Unfortunately  he  inherited  from  his  father's 
estate  a  bondman — a  lad  bound  until  he  should 
be  25  years  of  age. 

My  father  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  he 
would  have  sufficient  and  permanent  labor  he 
must  have  slave  labor.  He  purchased  and 
reared  slaves  until  he  was  the  owner  of  some 
thirteen.  This  was  a  great  sin  in  him  individ- 
ually, and  to  the  family    a  detriment,  as  all 

moral  wrongs  are. 
9 


10  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

My  father  was  observant,  and  by  his  read- 
ing kept  himself  familiar  with  passing  events. 
He  saw  that  the  effects  of  slavery  were  bad ; 
that  it  was  a  hindrance  to  social  and  national 
prosperity;  and  consequently  invested  his 
money  in  lands  in  free  States  and  early  deeded 
portions  of  these  lands  to  each  of  his  children. 
He  did  not  see  the  end  from  the  beginning, — 
what  was  to  be  the  after-use  of  some  of  these 
lands. 

My  mother  was  industrious  and  economical ; 
a  modest,  tender-hearted  woman,  and  a  fond 
mother.  I  was  her  first  born.  She  loved  me 
very  much,  and  I  loved  her  in  return. 

Her  mother,  Sarah  Gregg,  was  a  Quakeress 
from  Pennsylvania.  Her  eldest  son,  Aaron 
Gregg,  my  wife's  grandfather,  was  an  indus- 
trious free  laborer,  an  ardent  lover  of  liberty, 
and  very  out-spoken  in  his  denunciations  of 
slavery.  This  opposition  to  slavery  and  his 
love  of  liberty  passed  to  his  children  and 
children's  children,  almost    without  exception. 

In  my  boyhood  I  thought  nothing  about  the 
inherent  sinfulness  of  slavery.  I  saw  it  as  a 
prevalent  institution  in  the  family  life  of  my 
relations  on  my  father's  side  of  the  house. 
These  were  kind  to  me,  and  occupied  what 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  11 

were  considered  good  social  positions.  I  was 
often  scolded  for  being  so  much  with  the 
slaves,  and  threatened  with  punishment  when 
I  would  intercede  for  them.  Slavery,  like 
every  other  evil  institution,  bore  evil  fruits, 
blunted  the  finest  sensibilities  and  hardened 
the  tenderest  hearts. 

By  false  teaching,  unreflective  youth  can 
be  led  to  look  upon  moral  monstrosities  as 
harmless;  as  even  heaven-approved  institu- 
tions. Vivid  now  is  the  impression  made  on 
my  youthful  mind  on  seeing  a  Presbyterian 
preacher,  who  was  a  guest  in  my  grandfather's 
house,  rise  before  an  immense  audience  and 
select  for  his  text,  "Cursed  be  Canaan :  a 
servant  of  servants  shall  he  be  unto  his 
brethren."  Of  course  the  drift  of  the  dis- 
course was  after  the  plea  of  the  slaveocracy — 
"God  decreed  that  the  children  of  Ham  should 
be  slaves  to  the  children  of  Shem  and  Japheth; 
that  Abraham  held  slaves,  and  Moses  sanc- 
tioned such." 

All  this  was  intensified  by  seeing  a  much- 
venerated  neighbor,  and  slaveholder,  who  had 
represented  the  people  in  the  State  Legisla- 
ture, mount  his  horse,  then  uncovering  his 
gray  hairs,  cry  out   in    a   loud    voice,   "The 


12  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

greatest  sermon  between  heaven  and  earth." 
The  providence  and  truth  of  God  led  me,  in 
after  years,  to  a  very  different  conclusion. 

In  the  year  1830,  when  I  was  fourteen  years 
old,  Joseph  Corlis,  an  earnest  Christian  man, 
took  a  subscription  school  near  to  my  father's 
house,  and  insisted  with  great  earnestness  that 
he  be  allowed  to  board  in  my  father's  family. 
There  was  a  providence  in  this.  Under  his 
prayers  and  faithful  labors,  I  was  deeply  con- 
victed of  sin  and  gave  myself  to  God.  My 
desire  was  to  connect  myself  with  the  M.  E. 
church.  My  father  opposed,  saying  I  was 
too  young.  He  was  not  himself  a  Christian. 
Some  two  years  after  this  he  was  awakened, 
joined  the  Presbyterian  church  near  to  his 
home,  and  requested  that  I  go  with  him.  I 
desired  a  home  with  God's  people,  and  gladly 
embraced  the  opportunity.  After  the  lapse 
of  some  two  years  I  was  impressed  that  it 
was  my  duty  to  prepare  for  the  Gospel 
ministry.  I  soon  entered  as  a  student  in 
Augusta  College,  then  located  in  Augusta, 
Bracken  Co.,  Ky.,  my  native  county.  I 
prosecuted  my  studies  there  for  about  two 
and  a-half  years,  then  went  to  Miami  Univer- 
sity, at  Oxford,  Ohio,  and  there   finished  my 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  13 

course  of  classical  study  save  the  review  of 
the  last  term  of  study;  and  finding  I  could  do 
this  at  Augusta  College,  and  enter  Lane 
Theological  Seminary  at  the  beginning  of  the 
term  of  study  there,  I  returned  to  Augusta 
College  and  took  my  diploma  there.  I 
entered  Lane  Seminary  in  the  year  1842. 
Here  I  met  in  class  one  of  my  former  class- 
mates, John  Milton  Campbell,  a  former 
student  at  Oxford,  Ohio.  He  was  a  man  of 
marked  piety  and  great  goodness  of  heart. 
Years  previously  he  had  consecrated  himself 
to  the  work  of  missions  and  chose  West 
Africa  as  his  field.  Another  member  of  the 
same  class  was  James  C.  White,  formerly  of 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  late  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  on  Poplar  St.,  Cincinnati. 
These  brethren  became  deeply  interested  in 
me  as  a  native  of  Kentucky  and  in  view  of 
my  relation  to  the  slave  system,  my  father 
being  a  slaveholder.  They  pressed  upon  my 
conscience  the  text,  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thy  self,"  and  as  a  practical  mani- 
festation of  this,  "Do  unto  men  as  ye  would 
they  should  do  unto  you."  I  saw  that  the 
duty  enjoined  was  fundamental  in  the  religion 


U  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  unless  I  embraced 
the  principle  and  lived  it  in  honest  practice,  I 
would  lose  my  soul.  I  saw  also  that  as  an 
honest  man  I  ought  to  be  willing  to  wear  the 
name  which  would  be  a  fair  exponent  of  the 
principle  I  espoused.  This  was  the  name 
Abolitionist,  odious  then  to  the  vast  majority 
of  people  North,  and  especially  South.  For 
a  time  I  struggled  between  odium  on  the  one 
hand,  and  manifest  duty  on  the  other.  I  saw 
that  to  embrace  the  principle  and  wear  the 
name  was  to  cut  myself  off  from  relatives  and 
former  friends,  and  apparently  from  all  pros- 
pects of  usefulness  in  the  world.  I  had  in  the 
grove  near  the  seminary  a  place  to  which  I 
went  every  day  for  prayer,  between  the  hours 
of  eleven  and  twelve.  I  saw  that  to  have  light 
and  peace  from  God,  I  must  make  the  conse- 
cration. I  said,  "Lord,  if  needs  be,  make  me 
an  Abolitionist."  The  surrender  was  com- 
plete. I  arose  from  my  knees  with  the  con- 
sciousness that  I  had  died  to  the  world  and 
accepted  Christ  in  all  the  fullness  of  his  char- 
acter as  I  then  understood  Him.  Self  must 
be  surrendered.  The  test,  the  point  of  sur- 
render, may  be  one  thing  to  one  man,  a  differ- 
ent thing  to  another  man;  but  it  must  be 
made, — all  given  to  Christ. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  15 

In  this  consecration — this  death  to  the 
world — I  also  made  up  my  mind  to  accept  all 
that  should  follow.  Imperfect  as  has  been 
my  life,  I  do  not  remember  that  in  all  my 
after  difficulties  I  had  to  consider  anew  the 
questions  of  sacrifice  of  property,  of  comfort, 
of  social  position,  of  apparent  failure,  of  per- 
sonal safety,  or  of  giving  up  life  itself.  The 
latter  I  regarded  as  even  probable.  This, 
with  the  rest,  had  been  embodied  in  my 
former  consecration.  I  felt  that  "my  life  was 
hid  with  Christ  in  God." 

Soon  after  the  submission  and  consecration 
referred  to,  the  question  arose,  Where  ought 
I  to  expend  my  future  efforts,  and  manifest 
forth  this  love  to  God  and  man?  I  had  invi- 
tations to  go  with  class-mates  into  the  State 
of  Indiana,  into  communities  thrifty  and  pros- 
perous, with  multiplied  schools  and  growing 
churches.  This  was  enticing  to  young  aspir- 
ations, even  to  those  who  intended  to  do 
good.  I  was  also  considering  seriously  the 
duty  of  going  with  J.  M.  Campbell,  my  class- 
mate, to  Western  Africa;  and  was  in  corres- 
pondence with  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions  in  reference 
to  my  going  as  a  missionary  abroad. 


16  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Whilst  these  fields  of  labor  were  being 
considered,  there  came  irresistibly  the  consid- 
eration of  another  field:  that  part  of  the  home 
field  which  lay  in  the  South,  and  especially  in 
Kentucky,  my  native  State.  Then  came  be- 
fore me  my  relation  to  the  slave.  I  had 
shared  in  the  fruits  of  his  unrequited  toil;  he 
was  blind  and  dumb,  and  there  was  no  one  to 
plead  for  him. 

"Love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself"  rang  in  my 
ears.  I  also  considered  the  condition  of  the 
slave-owner.  I  knew  he  was  willingly  de- 
ceived by  the  false  teachings  of  the  popular 
ministry.  I  knew  also  that  the  great  part  of 
the  non-slaveowners,  who  were  by  their  votes 
and  action  the  actual  slaveholders,  did  not  see 
their  crime;  that  they  despised  the  slave  be- 
cause of  his  condition,  and  that  these  non-slave- 
owners were  violently  opposed  to  any  doctrine 
or  practice  that  might  treat  the  slave  as  a 
"neighbor,"  a  brother,  and  make  him  equal 
before  the  law.  I  knew  also  that  the  great 
body  of  the  people  were  practically  without 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Gospel,  love 
to  God  and  love  to  man;  that,  as  in  the  days  of 
Martin  Luther,  though  the  doctrine  of  justifi- 
cation by  faith  was  plainly  written  in  the  Bible, 


■ 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  17 

yet  the  great  body  of  people  did  not  then  see 
it;  so  now  the  great  doctrine  of  loving  God 
supremely  and  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  "on 
which  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets," 
though  clearly  written  in  the  Bible,  was  not 
seen  in  its  practical  application  by  the  great 
mass  of  the  people.  Such  was  my  relation  to 
this  people,  and  theirs  to  God  and  the  world, 
that  I  felt  I  must  return  and  preach  to  them 
the  gospel  of  impartial  love. 

In  my  bedroom  on  bended  knee,  and  look- 
ing through  my  window  across  the  Ohio  river, 
over  into  my  native  State,  I  entered  into  a  sol- 
emn covenant  with  God  to  return  and  there 
preach  this  gospel  of  love  without  which  all 
else  was  "as  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cym- 
bal." 

I  had  kept  up  correspondence  with  my 
father,  and  told  him  my  convictions  and 
purposes.  He  was  greatly  incensed,  and 
wrote,  saying,  "Bundle  up  your  books  and 
come  home ;  I  have  spentthe  last  dollar  I  mean 
to  spend  on  you  in  a  free  State." 

At  the  end  of  my  second  year  of  theological 
study  I  returned  to  my  home,  intending  to  do 
what  I  could  for  my  father's  conversion  and 
that  of  the  family.  I  spent  ten  months  with 
my  father  and  the  community  around,     I  felt 


18  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

during  this  time  a  great  burden  of  spirit  in  view 
of  the  condition  of  society  and  the  work  which 
lay  before  me.  I  spent  at  one  time,  alone,  in 
an  open  field  on  my  father's  farm,  a  whole 
night  in  prayer.  On  two  other  occasions, 
in  prayer,  alone,  in  a  distant  part  of  the 
farm,  I  had  to  my  soul  two  of  the  fullest  revela- 
ations  of  the  glory  of  God  in  my  life's  history. 
These  were  not  my  first  conversion,  nor 
second  conversion,  nor  sanctification.  Con- 
version is  committal  to  Christ,  soul,  body,  and 
spirit.  Of  this  I  had  been  conscious  previous 
to  these  after  sealings  of  the  Spirit. 

Sanctification  is  none  the  less  by  faith  than 
justification,  but  it  is  continuous.  There  may 
arise  to-day  a  new  duty,  a  new  apprehension 
of  a  habit  un-Christ  like,  but  not  seen  before. 
With  this  new  apprehension  comes  the  neces- 
sity of  a  new  committal  to  Christ,  with  full  as- 
surance of  sustaining  grace. 

There  was  another  incident,  a  providence 
of  good  to  me  in  these  months  of  stay  and 
labor.  During  a  series  of  religious  meetings 
held  in  the  church  house  where  I  had  previous- 
ly made  my  own  public  profession  of  Christ, 
I  saw  the  conversion  of  the  one  to  whom  I 
gave  my  best  affections,  and  the  one   I  then 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  19 

decided  to  make,  if  possible,  the  sharer  of  my 
future  joys  and  sorrows.  I  had  known  her 
from  her  childhood,  and  her  mother  before  her ; 
yet  with  all  her  attractions  and  merits  in  my 
eyes,  I  had  no  thought  of  choosing  her  previ- 
ous to  her  conversion,  as  the  partner  of  my 
life.  I  knew  no  one  could  be  happy  with  me, 
nor  a  help-mate  in  the  life  I  had  resolved  to 
live,  unless  she  was  converted,  and  thus  one 
in  spirit  and  purpose  with  myself. 

On  that  day  of  her  conversion  and  espousal 
to  Christ  (for  I  heard  her  experience  and  con- 
secration) I  decided  to  seek  with  her  future 
oneness.  I  had  before  me  a  governing 
purpose,  and  to  this  all  my  plans  conformed. 
Marriage  to  me  was  not  a  mere  impulse  nor  a 
mere  business  transaction.  I  believed  then,  as 
now,  that  in  order  to  true  and  wise  marriage 
there  is  some  one  in  the  world  in  whom  there 
is,  first,  that  peculiar  combination  of  qualities 
which  form  the  basis  of  peculiar  and  exclusive 
affection;  and  then  there  must  be  that  purpose 
of  soul  and  habit  of  life  that  fit  for  future  har- 
mony and  usefulness.  This  I  found  in  her: 
that  affection,  sympathy,  courage,  cheer, 
activity,  frugality  and  endurance,  which  few 
could  have  combined,  and  which  greatly  sus- 


20  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

tained  me  in  the  dark  and  trying  hours  that 
attended  most  of  our  pathway.  This  much  is 
due  to  truth  and  may  be  suggestive  to  others. 

By  this  time  it  became  apparent  that  my 
work  in  trying  to  convert  my  father  to  senti- 
ments of  justice  and  liberty  was  ended.  He 
had  supplied  himself,  from  every  possible 
source,  with  pro-slavery  books  and  pamphlets, 
and  became  violent  in  his  opposition  to  all  efforts 
for  the  freedom  of  the  slave.  He  still  hoped 
to  efface  my  convictions  and  lure  me  from  my 
purpose.  He  offered  to  pay  all  bills  if  I 
would  go  to  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  and  spend 
a  year  in  the  Theological  Seminary  in  that 
place.  This  offer  I  declined.  I  said,  I  will  not 
by  any  act  of  mine  bid  God-speed  to  an  institu- 
tion in  which  the  teaching  and  practice  is 
subversive  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the 
Gospel, — love  to  God  supreme,  and  to  our 
neighbors  as  ourselves. 

I  was  offered  the  pastorate  of  two  churches 
in  the  county  (Bracken),  with  abundant 
support,  but  on  the  condition  that  I  would  "go 
along  and  preach  the  Gospel  and  let  the  subject 
of  slavery  alone."  I  replied,  "The  Gospel  is 
the  good  news  of  salvation  from  sin,  all  sin, 
the  sin  of  slave-holding  as  well  as  all  other  sins; 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  21 

and  I  will  not  sell  my  convictions  in  reference 
to  that  which  I  regard  as  an  iniquity,  nor  my 
liberty  to  utter  these  convictions  for  a  mess  of 
pottage." 

I  saw  that  my  work  in  that  region  was 
ended.  But  my  covenant  was  upon  me  to 
preach  the  gospel  of  love  in  Kentucky.  I 
needed  therefore  to  look  for  another  field. 

Ecclesiastically  I  was  connected  with  the 
New  School  Presbyterian  "church"  or  sect. 
The  ministerial  brethren  of  that  body  at  that 
time,  in  Kentucky,  were  relatively  few. 
Several  of  these  brethren  earnestly  solicited 
my  co-operation.  I  told  them  my  convictions 
in  reference  to  the  sinfulness  of  human  slavery; 
of  its  utter  subversion  of  the  great  fundamental 
principles  of  the  Gospel.  Some  replied,  "Yes, 
slavery  is  a  bad  thing;  so  was  polygamy;  but 
God  tolerated  it,  and  sent  his  prophets  to 
preach  principles  that  ultimately  supplanted 
it.  So,"  they  said,  "we  must  deal  with 
slavery."  I  replied,  Principles  can  be  effective 
only  as  they  are  seen  and  applied. 

I  was  fettered  with  the  notion  that  if  I 
would  purify  the  church,  or  sect,  I  must 
stay  in  it  and  there  apply  the  principles,  hold 
up  the  truth.    Soon,  however, an  "eye-opener" 


22  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

came.  I  was  invited  to  attend  a  meeting  of 
the  presbytery  within  the  bounds  of  which  I 
was  then  living.  This  was  near  to  Cynthiana, 
Harrison  Co.,  Ky.  I  went.  I  saw  there,  as 
elsewhere,  the  blight  of  slavery  on  every  thing 
around  me;  the  degradation  of  the  slave,  the 
idleness  of  the  youth,  the  pride  of  the  people, 
the  spirit  and  manner  of  the  ministers  them- 
selves. Sabbath  came;  and  the  hour  to  com- 
mune, to  eat  at  the  Lord's  table,  came.  With 
this  came  to  my  mind  the  text,  "If  any  man 
that  is  called  a  brother  be  a  fornicator,  or 
covetous,  or  an  idolater,  or  a  railer,  or  a 
drunkard,  or  an  extortioner;  with  such  an  one 
not  to  eat."  I  said,  If  the  slaveholder  be  not 
an  extortioner,  then  no  man  under  heaven  is. 
I  left  the  church  house,  and  went  out  into  an 
adjoining  woodland  and  sat  down  on  a  log  and 
wept  as  I  thought  of  my  condition, — that  of 
holding  ecclesiastical  connection  with  men 
with  whom  I  could  not  eat  at  the  Lord's  table. 
The  pastorate  of  that  church  was  offered  to 
me.  I  saw  in  the  eldership  and  leading  mem- 
bers determined  opposition  to  the  freedom  of 
the  slave.  I  saw  there  was  not  to  me,  in  that 
place,  an  open  door,  and  returned  to  my 
home. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  23 

After  a  few  days  I  took  my  horse  and 
started  on  an  exploring  tour  through  the  inte- 
rior of  the  State.  Then,  like  most  other  min- 
isters, I  was  working  in  the  narrow  groove  of 
sect,  and  that  a  small  one  in  Kentucky.  Go- 
ing from  place  to  place,  I  traveled  on  horse- 
back between  three  and  four  hundred  miles. 
I  heard,  in  my  journeying,  of  a  small  church 
in  the  city  of  Louisville,  Kentucky,  then  with- 
out a  pastor.  I  visited  the  church  and  found 
the  membership  small — twenty-one  in  number. 
In  this  church  there  was  to  me  one  hopeful 
feature,  and  that  was  that  there  was  but  one 
slave-owner  in  the  membership,  and  she  the 
widow  of  a  former  preacher,  who  was  repre- 
sented as  having  been  an  anti-slavery  man. 
I  said,  This  people  will  probably  hear  the 
truth  spoken  in  love.  I  agreed  to  come  and 
labor  with  them  for  a  season.  I  then  re- 
turned to  my  home  in  Bracken  County. 

Soon  a  letter  from  the  church  followed  me, 
saying,  "If  you  will  be  useful  among  us,  you 
must  separate  yourself  from  that  abolition 
presbytery  at  Cincinnati."  By  that  presby- 
tery I  had  been  licensed  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  my  connection,  ecclesiastically,  was  yet 
with  that  body.     I   replied,  If    my  usefulness 


24  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

with  you  depends  upon  my  separating  from 
godly  men,  then  with  you   I  cannot  be  useful. 

Again  I  was  apparently  without  a  field  of 
labor;  but  my  purpose  was  unchanged,  and 
my  willing  covenant  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
love  in  my  native  State  was  yet  upon  me,  but 
in  what  place  to  preach  I  knew  not.  With 
me  it  was  then  true  that  I  must  go  forward, 
"not  knowing  whither  I  went." 

As  previously  suggested,  my  life's  future 
was  merged  with  that  of  another,  and  hers 
with  mine.  She  had  decided  to  go  where  I 
should  go,  and  if  I  roamed  in  keeping  my 
covenant,  I  should  not  roam  alone.  Accord- 
ingly with  her  consent,  Matilda  Hamilton  and 
I  were  married  September  26,  1844. 

Soon  after  this,  two  brethren,  S.  Y.  Garri- 
son and  E.  P.  Pratt,  extended  to  me  an  invi- 
tation to  assist  in  a  meeting  to  be  held  in 
Lewis  County,  Kentucky.  I  accepted  the 
invitation  and  went  at  the  time  appointed.  I 
found  a  new  church  house  just  completed, 
and  a  large  concourse  of  people.  As  I  was 
informed,  most  of  the  people  were  descend- 
ants of  Pennsylvanians,  and  but  few  slave- 
holders were  in  the  community.  The  mem- 
bership of  the    church    was  small,   but  to  me 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  25 

hopeful.  There  were  at  the  beginning  of  the 
meeting  only  three  members.  These  were 
women,  wives  of  men  who  were  not  slave- 
holders. During  the  meeting  two  persons, 
on  the  profession  of  their  faith,  were  added  to 
the  church.  These  were  not  slaveholders. 
I  preached  to  the  people,  found  attentive  ears, 
and  immediately  an  urgent  solicitation  to  labor 
with  them. 

In  that  community  there  was  but  one  other 
church,  a  small  band  of  Old  School  Presby- 
terians, The  man  who  preached  to  them, 
once  in  each  month,  lived  many  miles  distant, 
and  was  pro-slavery  in  his  teachings.  I  said, 
These  people  are  practically  without  the  Gos- 
pel; this  is  missionary  ground;  there  is  an 
open  door  and  I  will  come.  Efforts  were 
made  to  secure  for  me  a  partial  support. 
Nearly  one  hundred  dollars  were  pledged  by 
the  people;  application  was  made  to  the 
American  Home  Missionary  Society  for  addi- 
tional aid;  and,  as  I  n  >\v  recollect,  the  sum 
was  two  hundred  dollars.  I  returned  to 
Bracken  County,  where  I  had  previously  left 
an  appointment  to  deliver  a  lecture  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  in  the  court  house  in 
Brooksville,  the  county  seat.     This   appoint- 


26  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ment  produced  great  commotion.  Threats  of 
violence  were  made,  and  with  these  came 
entreaties  from  relatives  and  friends  to  with- 
draw the  appointment.  During  life,  in  all 
new  or  responsible  engagements,  I  have  been 
slow  and  careful  in  making  them;  but  once 
made,  as  far  as  I  can  now  remember,  I  have 
met  my  appointments,  or  made  a  vigorous 
effort  in  trying  to  do  so. 

I  went  to  the  appointment, — my  wife  with 
me.  James  Hawkins,  then  the  nominal  slave 
of  my  father-in-law,  went  also,  but  "followed 
afar  off."  He  went  not  to  be  seen  as  a  hearer, 
but  to  guard  the  horses  and  saddles  of  myself 
and  wife,  and  this  of  his  own  devising; — not 
known  to  us.  We  found  in  the  court  house  a 
small  audience  of  men.  I  delivered  my  lec- 
ture and  we  came  quietly  home. 

My  father  was  so  incensed  that  he  said, 
"Enter  not  my  door  again."  After  some  two 
weeks  I  preached  a  sermon  in  Sharon  church 
house.  My  father  was  present.  After  ser- 
mon he  invited  me  and  Matilda,  my  wife,  to 
go  home  with  him.  Though  he  opened,  for 
a  time,  the  door  of  his  house,  he  never  opened 
the  door  of  his  heart  to  the  sentiments  of  free- 
dom to  the  slave,  or  to  the  doctrine  of  doing 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  27 

unto  men  as  he  would  they  should  do  unto 
him. 

The  prospects  of  the  newly-begun  life,  to 
my  wife,  were  not  flattering,  and  all  I  could 
then  do  was  to  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight. 
After  the  lapse  of  a  few  more  weeks  we  went 
to  Lewis  County,  to  enter  upon  the  work  as 
previously  arranged.  We  took  board  in  the 
house  of  Benjamin  Given.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

Soon  after  entering  upon  my  work  in  Lewis 
County,  John  D.  Tully,  then  husband  to  Ruth 
Tully,  who  was  a  member  of  the  little  church, 
requested  that  I  would  preach  a  sermon  on 
the  subject  of  slavery.  I  at  once  consented, 
and  announced  my  purpose  to  do  so  at  Union 
church  house,  four  weeks  from  that  time.  I 
had  then  an  engagement  to  attend  in  the 
meantime,  the  then-called  "Southwestern 
Anti-slavery  Convention,"  to  be  held  in  the 
city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  the  month  of  April, 
1845.  At  that  convention  I  made  my  first 
acquaintance  with  Salmon  P.  Chase,  and  was 
with  him  on  the  committee  of  resolutions 
there  discussed  and  adopted.  There  I  heard 
George  W.  Clark  sing  in  his  inimitable  man- 
ner, that  soul-stirring  song,  "Be  free  !  O  man, 


28  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

be  free!"  There  I  heard  read  a  letter  of 
great  eloquence  and  power  from  Elihu  Bur- 
ritt,  for  whom  I  afterward  named  my  first- 
born son,  Burritt. 

I  returned  to  Lewis  County,  Kentucky,  my 
then  chosen  field  of  labor.  At  the  appointed 
time  I  went  to  the  church  house  where  I  had 
engaged  to  preach  a  sermon  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  I  found  there  more  people  than 
could  be  seated  in  the  house.  I  selected  the 
text,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with 
all  thy  mind,  and  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  I 
showed  that  human  slavery  was  plainly  a  vio- 
lation of  this  fundamental  principle  of  the 
Christian  religion.  I  then  considered  the 
various  texts  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
assumed  as  sanctions  of  slavery.  I  showed 
that  such  assumptions  were  wrong;  that  the 
precepts  of  Christianity  must  be  construed  in 
harmony  with  its  fundamental  principles,  and 
that  slavery  was  sinful  as  certainly  as  any- 
thing in  human  action  could  be  sinful.  I  in- 
vited the  congregation  to  come  back  the  next 
Lord's  day  and  we  would  then  consider  the 
various  schemes  for  the  removal  of  this  evil; 
I  then  dismissed  them. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  29 

On  the  next  Lord's  day  the  congregation 
was  not  so  large  as  on  the  previous  occasion. 
I  reminded  my  audience  that  we  had  shown 
on  the  previous  occasion  that  human  slavery 
was  a  violation  of  the  law  of  love,  and  there- 
fore a  sin;  that  this  sin,  like  all  other  sins, 
needed  to  be  repented  of,  and  that  immedi- 
ately; just  as  we  should  immediately  repent 
of  any  other  great  sin.  I  then  considered  the 
plea  for  colonization.  I  showed  that  to  ban- 
ish a  man  from  the  land  of  his  birth,  guilty  of 
no  crime,  was  gross  injustice — only  adding  in- 
iquity to  crime.  I  showed  that  to  do  right  is 
always  safe;  and  that  emancipation  in  the 
West  Indies  was  an  acknowledged  good  to 
all ;  that  the  slaves  in  our  country,  as  a  gen- 
eral rule,  were  patient,  long-suffering,  recept- 
ive, trusting,  and,  withal,  acclimated;  and 
would  be  more  quiet  laborers  than  those  we 
wrould  import  from  abroad.  The  verdict  was 
soon  rendered:  "He  is  an  Abolitionist,  in 
favor  of  'nigger'  equality;  his  teaching  is  dan- 
gerous to  our  property,  and  will  breed  insur- 
rection and  rebellion;  he  ought  to  be  moved." 

That  Sabbath  afternoon  was  not  a  quiet  one 
in  that  part  of  Lewis  County  where  we  then 
were.     No    violence    as  yet;  only  jeers  and 

3 


30  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

taunts.  My  wife  was  as  quiet  as  if  all  around 
her  had  been  serene.  The  next  morning  our 
landlord  informed  me  that  his  wife  was  un- 
willing to  keep  us  any  longer.  We  had  not  a 
home  of  our  own.  My  covenant  was  still  on 
me  to  spread  the  gospel  of  love,  justice  and 
mercy,  in  Kentucky,  my  native  State;  where, 
I  knew  not.  My  purpose  was  unchanged.  I 
could  only  stand  still  and  see  the  salvation  of 
God.     It  came. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  31 


CHAPTER  II. 

A  Home. — Resolutions  of  the  Church. — Salary. — Meeting 
of  Synod. — Resolutions. — My  Withdrawal. — Ecclesi- 
astical Position. — Union  on  Christ. — Separation  from 
A.  M.  Society. — Anticipated  Mob. — Prosecution  of 
Hannahs. — Invitation  to  C.  M.  Clay. — Expected  Vio- 
lence.— Anti-Slavery  Manual. — Protest  against  Secret 
Orders. 

Monday  morning  found  us  absolutely  with- 
out a  home.  My  wife  picked  up  her  bonnet 
and  went  across  the  stream,  Cabin  Creek,  to 
the  house  of  "Uncle"  Robert  and  "Aunt" 
Lydia  Boyd.  They  were  "Disciples" — disci- 
ples indeed.  My  wife  said  to  Aunt  Lydia, 
"We  are  without  a  home ;  can  we  stop  with 
you  for  a  few  weeks?"  The  reply  was, 
"Certainly;  come  in."  In  a  sense  we  were 
"strangers,"  and  "they  took  us  in."  In  less 
than  two  hours  our  little  effects  were  removed 
and  we  were  under  another  roof. 

I  said  to  my  wife,  "My  covenant  is  upon 
me  to  stay  in  Kentucky  and  preach  this  gospel 
of  love.  If  I  do  so  I  must  have  a  home  of  my 
own,  a  place  where  I  shall  be  a  fixture,  a  tax- 


32  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

payer;  have  a  claim  to  citizenship  and  pro- 
tection." I  had  409  acres  of  land  in  northern 
Indiana  which  I  could  then  sell  for  six  dollars 
per  acre.  I  sold  half  of  the  tract  and  bought  half 
of  an  acre  of  ground  adjoining  the  lot  of  the 
friend  with  whom  we  were  stopping.  I  found 
two  men  who  said  they  would  build  for  me  a 
house  if  they  had  to  "hold  the  sword  in  one 
hand  and  the  trowel  in  the  other;  the  pistol 
in  one  and  the  saw  in  the  other."  These 
were  ungodly  men — "the  earth  helped  the 
woman."  To  secure  material,  even  for  a 
small  house,  was  then,  to  me,  a  tedious  business. 
Some  of  this  lumber  had  to  be  hauled  ten 
miles — not  by  railroad,  or  on  turnpikes,  but 
on  jolt  wagons  and  over  mud  roads. 

After  some  weeks  my  wife  and  I,  "on 
horseback,"  went  twenty-five  miles  to  the 
house  of  her  parents,  where  she  tarried  a  few 
weeks,  until  our  first  child  was  born. 

I  immediately  returned  to  my  field  of  labor, 
filling  appointments  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath. 
My  audiences  were  small,  ranging  from  eight 
to  twelve  persons.  Two  persons  who  had 
united  with  the  original  three,  went  back  as 
soon  as  persecutions  arose.  Two  others,  con- 
verted by  the  power  of  truth  and  Spirit  of  God, 


r 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  33 

were  added.  These  endured  until  death 
called  them  away.  The  church  at  a  regular 
meeting  resolved  to  treat  slave-holding  as  they 
would  any  other  practice  plainly  contrary  to 
the  Word  of  God,  and  refuse  church  fellow- 
ship to  all  persisting  in  the  practice  of  slave- 
holding.  I  continued  my  appointments  at 
Union  Church  house  and  at  private  houses 
where  I  could  find  an  open  door.  The  one 
hundred  dollars,  pledged  toward  my  support, 
were  ciphered  down  to  twenty-five.  One  of 
the  preachers,  who  knew  my  condition,  and 
had  known  me  for  many  years,  had  often  been 
at  my  father's  house.  He  had  urged  me  to  go 
to  that  field,  and  had  pledged  twenty-five  dol- 
lars of  the  one  hundred  promised  for  my  sup- 
port, but  when  he  heard  I  had  uttered  my  con- 
victions in  sermons  against  human  slavery,  he 
declined  to  pay  what  he  had  pledged,  saying 
"he  had  intended  to  give  to  me  a  colt  worth 
twenty-five  dollars,  but  it  had  died";  "more- 
over, if  I  should  find  myself  taken  out  some 
night,  ridden  on  a  rail  and  ducked  in  a  pond, 
I  would  receive  only  what  my  folly  deserved." 
This  action  of  his  need  not  now  be  surprising 
when  we  consider  that  this  man  had  a  rich 
farm,    in    an    adjoining     county,    worked    by 


34  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

slaves,  and  the  women  were  driven  to  the 
hempfield  whilst  their  babes  lay  crying  on  the 
kitchen  floor.  This  I  saw  in  passing.  To 
some  it  will  now  seem  horrid  that  I  should 
have  had  any  ecclesiastical  association  with 
such  a  man.     I  did  not  long  retain  such. 

In  the  month  of  October,  1845,  I  attended 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Synod  of  Kentucky, 
Presbyterian,  New  School,  at  Paris,  Ky.  The 
Synod  in  reviewing  the  records  of  Ebenezer 
Presbytery  considered  the  action  of  the  church 
in  Lewis  Co.,  of  which  church  I  was  then 
pastor.  The  church  had  by  a  unanimous  vote 
declared  that  they  would  regard  slave-holding 
as  a  sinful  practice — a  plain  violation  of  the 
law  of  God,  and  refuse  church  fellowship  to 
those  persisting  in  the  practice  of  slave-holding. 
This  action  was  pronounced  unwarranted  and 
my  part  in  it  as  reprehensible. 

A  prominent  member  of  the  Synod  and  its 
Corresponding  Secretary  immediately  entered 
upon  a  defense  of  slave-holding,  and  this  in 
the  light  of  Bible  teaching,  and  with  this  a 
severe  reflection  upon  me  for  teaching  the 
opposite  doctrine.  In  reply  I  gladly  accepted 
the  discussion  of  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 
that    in    the    light    of   the    Bible.     After   the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  35 

second  round  the  moderator  decided  we  must 
not  discuss  the  subject  in  the  light  of  the 
Bible,  but  in  the  light  of  the  constitution  of 
the  church,  the  "denomination  to  which  we 
belonged."  I  replied,  even  in  the  light  of 
this  constitution  slavery  is  wrong.  This  con- 
stitution declares  an  offense  to  be  "any  thing 
in  the  principle  or  practice  of  a  church  member 
which  is  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God;  or 
which,  if  it  be  not  in  its  own  nature  sinful,  may 
lead  others  to  sin  or  mar  their  spiritual  edifi- 
cation." I  said,  as  we  have  shown,  slave- 
holding  is  contrary  to  the  Word  of  God, 
violates  the  law  of  love  in  taking  away  natural 
rights,  and  also  tempts  others  to  sin.  The 
discussion  was  stopped  by  the  moderator.  A 
peroration  was  given  by  a  venerable  member, 

Dr.  C- ,  who  said,  "If   the    young   man 

shall  find  himself  some  day  taken  out,  ridden 
on  a  rail  and  ducked  in  a  pond,  he  need  not 
be  surprised." 

The  Synod    then    passed    four   resolutions. 

i.  "That  the  action  of  the  church  in  Lewris 
County,  in  declaring  slave-holding  as  sinful, 
and  refusing  church  fellowship  to  slavehold- 
ers, is  unwarranted. 

2.     The  action   of    Bro.   Fee    in  aiding  and 


36  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

encouraging  such  action  is  censurable  in  thus 
disturbing  the  peace  of  Zion,  and  in  breaking 
his  covenant  vows  to  study  the  peace  of  Zion. 

3.  That  the  A.  M.  Society  be  requested 
not  to  give  aid  to  him  as  an  evangelist  in  our 
midst. 

4.  That  Ebenezer  Presbytery  be  request- 
ed to  appoint  a  committee  to  visit  and  labor 
with  the  church  in  Lewis  County."  The  com- 
mittee came  not. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Synod,  which 
meeting  was  held  at  Midway,  Ky.,  my  action 
in  connection  with  the  church  in  Lewis  Co., 
Ky.,  was  again  taken  up.  I  had  said  to  the 
brethren  of  the  Synod  I  had  believed  it  to  be 
my  duty  to  stay  with  my  brethren  for  a  time 
and  do  what  I  could  to  induce  them  to  cease 
from  the  practice  or  sanction  of  the  sin  of 
slave-holding.  A  prominent  member  replied: 
.  "A  man  may  hold  a  black-eyed  pea  so  near 
his  eye  that  he  will  shut  out  of  vision  the 
whole  world."     Application  was  made. 

It  was  then  said,  "On  our  part  there  is  no 
hope  for  repentance,  and  you  have  done  all  you 
can  unless  it  be  by  withdrawing  and  consist- 
ently going  where  you  belong."  It  was  then 
added,  "The  constitution   of  the  church,"  the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  37 

denomination,  "to  which  you  belong  says 
nothing  against  slavery  and  it  is  your  duty  to 
construe  the  constitution  of  the  church  as  the 
body  you  belong  to  construes  it."  I  replied, 
"It  is  now  manifest  that  my  work  with  you  is 
done.  Also,  the  position  you  assume  is  prac- 
tical popery;  you  interpose  between  me  and 
the  Word  of  God  a  human  creed  and  then 
demand  that  I  construe  that  creed  as  the  body 
to  which  I  belong  construes  it.  This  takes 
away  the  right  of  private  interpretation.  This 
is  the  very  essence  of  popery."  I  said,  "Give 
to  me  a  letter  of  dismission."  This  they  did, 
as  "in  good  and  regular  standing  save  agita- 
tion of  the  slavery  question."  With  this  sep- 
aration ended,  on  my  part,  all  direct  connec- 
tion with  slave-holdinp-  bodies. 

As  it  now  is,  my  work  has  been  small,  but 
had  I  consented  to  remain  in  the  Synod  of 
Kentucky,  and  to  pursue  the  policy  advised 
and  adopted  by  the  brethren  in  that  Synod, 
my  work  would  have  been  an  utter  failure. 
So  far  as  I  now  know  every  church  that  con- 
sented to  the  conservative  position,  yea,  pro- 
scriptive  position  of  that  Synod,  has  gone 
down.  It  either  died  for  want  of  life  or  went 
over  to  the  Old  School  body  in  its  unqualified 


38  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

fellowship  of  slaveholders.  This  failure  was 
not  to  be  attributed  to  want  of  ability  in  the 
ministry.  Such  men  as  Clelland,  Gallaher 
Dickerson,  Mills,  Pratt  and  others  were  men 
of  acknowledged  ability.  The  majority  of  the 
ministers  acknowledged  the  wrong  of  slavery 
in  comparing  it  to  concubinage,  but  said  it 
was  to  be  worn  out  by  preaching  principles. 
These  brethren  were  negative,  conservative. 
The  slave  power  was  positive,  aggressive,  and 
wore  out  these  conservative  ministers  and 
their  churches.  When  sins  are  gross  and 
incorporated  into  the  organic  law  of  the  land, 
nothing  short  of  unqualified  condemnation  and 
refusal  to  support  will  be  sufficient.  Ministers 
must  speak  out  as  Nathan  to  David,  "Thou 
art  the  man."  "The  blood  of  a  murdered  man 
lies  at  your  door."  "Put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings."  Nothing  short  of  such  faithfulness 
will  ever  succeed. 

An  important  question  was  now  before  us 
as  a  church — -what  ecclesiastical  position  shall 
we  assume?  what  shall  we  do  for  ecclesiastical 
co-operation?  We  had  a  lingering  feeling, 
somewhat  like  that  of  the  children  of  Israel  in 
the  days  of  Samuel,  when  they  said:  "We 
must  be  like  the  nations  round  about  us." 
But  God  led  and  taught  us  otherwise. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  39 

We  saw  that  to  succeed  in  Kentucky  we 
must  have  the  co-operation  of  all  true  Chris- 
tians, who  trusted  in  Christ  as  their  Savior 
from  sin— all  sin.  Bro.  G.  came  across  the  Ohio 
river  and  said,  "Bro.  Fee,  we  Free  Presby- 
terians have  so  amended  our  Confession  of 
Faith  that  we  shut  out  all  slaveholders;  join 
with  us."  I  said:  "To  do  so  would  leave  us 
but  a  little  handful  in  Kentucky;  also  there  are 
good  brethren  here  who  would  not  like  your 
creed,  in  other  respects;  nor  the  name  Presby- 
terian." 

Bro.  W.,  a  Wesleyan  of  good  ability  and  of 
true  piety,  came.  He  said:  "Bro.  Fee,  Wes- 
leyans  have  no  connection  with  slave-holding 
and  our  creed  is  small;  join  with  us."  I  said: 
"We  are  glad  of  your  protest  against  slave- 
holding  and  hope  your  creed  will  grow  still 
smaller  so  that  it  will  shut  out  no  true  child  of 
God  who  accepts  Christ  in  all  the  fullness  of 
his  character;  but  there  are  brethren  here  who 
would  not  like  to  accept  your  creed  nor  take 
the  name  Wesleyan."  We  said  that  it  is  mani- 
fest that  in  order  to  success  we  must  have  a 
creed  so  simple  that  all  true  followers  of  Christ 
can  unite  on  it.  And  we  must  have  a  name 
so  catholic  that  all  the  true  followers  of  Christ 


40  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

can  wear  it.  This  must  be  Christian  as  des- 
ignating individual  character;  and  church   of 

Christ  at as  designating  the  local  church. 

Thus  were  we  led  by  the  logic  of  events  to 
see  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  long  before 
marked  out  by  our  Lord  when  he  said:  "Nei- 
ther pray  I  for  these  alone,  but  for  all  them 
that  believe  on  me  through  their  word,  that 
they  may  be  one." 

The  basis  of  union  was  Christ,  a  person — 
not  opinions  — but  a  person.  "Other  founda- 
tion can  no  man  lay  than  is  laid,  which  is 
Jesus  Christ."  The  reason  for  fellowship  was 
manifested  faith  in  Christ  as  the  Savior  from 
sin.  On  this  foundation  came  together  those 
who  had  been  known  as  Presbyterians,  Disci- 
ples, Methodists  and  Baptists. 

A  question  now  arose  in  my  mind  as  to  the 
propriety  of  my  receiving  aid  from  the  Amer- 
ican Home  Missionary  Society.  I  gave  to  the 
Society  my  reasons  why  I  must  decline  fur- 
ther aid:     They  were  as  follows: 

i.  In  securing  and  sending  an  annual  con- 
tribution to  your  Society  I  will  thereby  help 
sustain  and  build  up  slave-holding. 

2.  However  small  my  influence  may  be, 
my  continued  reception  of  your  aid  would  be 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  41 

thus  far  an  endorsement  of  your  policy;  this 
I  may  not  give. 

The  society  replied  they  thought  I  ought 
to  be  satisfied  if  they  were  willing  to  give  aid 
to  me  in  my  protest  against  slave-holding; 
and  in  reference  to  pastors  aided,  their  work 
of  inquiry  was  ended  when  the  pastors  are 
regarded  as  "rectus  in  ecclesia,"  "right  in 
church."  This  was  Congregationalism  "with 
a  vengeance." 

I  replied:  "Christ  is  not  the  minister  of  sin 
and  you  ought  not  to  be,  and  I  may  not  help 
you  in  this." 

Just  at  this  time,  Jan.  17,  1846,  Bro.  A.  A, 
Phelps,  who  was  secretary  of  the  Union  Mis- 
sionary Society,  merged  soon  after  this  into 
the  American  Missionary  Association,  wrote 
to  me  saying,  "I  think  you  should  stay  where 
you  are  and  itinerate  three  or  six  months,  as 
you  can.  I  hope  you  will,  on  no  account, 
withdraw  your  application  for  a  re-commission 
from  the  Home  Missionary  Society;  if  they 
refuse,  they  make  Abolitionism  a  test  of  church 
standing  as  Dickerson  has  in  his  refusal  to 
recommend  you.  Do  not  let  them  off — urge 
and  insist  on  a  decision  of  the    'new  case.'" 

The  Society    did    not  want  to  be    "let  off." 


42  .  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  felt  I  must  let  them  off.  Whilst  they  man- 
ifestly, for  some  reason,  desired  to  help  sustain 
one  anti-slavery  church  in  the  South  they  were 
at  the  same  time  sustaining  fifty  two  slave- 
holding  churches  in  the  South.  This  was 
blowing  hot  and  cold — serving  God  and  the 
devil — doing  evil  on  a  large  scale,  that  good 
might  come  on  a  small  scale.  I  said:  "I  may 
not  bid  you  God  speed  in  your  wicked  policy," 
and  returned  their  commission. 

The  little  church  established  on  the  one 
foundation,  Christ,  and  its  pastor  disenthralled 
from  all  slave-holding  alliances,  and  the  little 
cottage  now  enclosed,  one  room  with  one  coat 
of  plastering  on  and  that  not  dry,  the  humble 
pastor,  wife  and  first-born  child  entered. 
With  a  small  case  of  books  on  the  right,  a 
small  cupboard  on  the  left,  our  little  Laura  in 
a  cradle  in  the  middle,  a  bed  behind,  at  night- 
fall Matilda  and  I  sat  down  before  a  cheerful 
fire  in  an  open  fireplace,  without  a  cloud  of 
the  unseen  future  before  us. 

In  this  little  room  sixteen  feet  square,  with 
bed  and  table  and  with  seats  constructed  by 
extending  a  plank  from  one  chair  to  another, 
we  had  preaching  Sunday  evenings  after  I 
returned  from  distant  appointments.     Monday 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  .  43 

morning  whilst  I  made  fires,  fed  the  horse  and 
milked  the  cow,  my  wife  swept  out  dirt  from 
previous  muddy  shoes  and  scrubbed  out  stains 
from  tobacco  spit  as  far  as  she  could.  The 
one  end  to  be  attained,  at  whatever  sacrifice, 
was  the  lodgment  of  fundamental  truth  in  the 
minds  of  the  people. 

As  we  began  to  plant  ourselves  more  fixedly 
in  the  State,  the  slave  power  busied  itself  in 
efforts  to  stir  up  opposition  and  mob  violence. 
A  plot  was  arranged  to  waylay  me  on  my 
way  to  an  appointment  some  fifteen  miles 
distant.  Some  men  who  were  friends  pro- 
posed to  go  and  defend  me  from  assailants; 
but  said  they  would  not  go  without  arms.  I 
said:  "I  carry  no  weapons;  I  know  retalia- 
tion will  destroy  society.  If  I  suffer  I  will 
make  my  appeal  to  the  civil  courts."  These 
friends  declined  going.  My  wife  said  she 
would  go.  The  babe  was  left  with  a  kind 
neighbor  woman. 

Saturday  morning  found  Matilda  and  me  each 
on  horseback,  winding  our  way  through  the 
hills  of  Lewis  to  our  appointment  fifteen  miles 
distant  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  river.  No 
molestation  that  day.  That  night  during  the 
hour  of   preaching  some    "roughs"    took  our 


44  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

horse  out  of  the  stable,  took  him  off  into  the 
forest,  tied  some  billets  of  wood  to  his  tail  and 
started  him,  thinking  he  would  be  greatly 
frightened  and  they  see  some  fun.  "Ben" 
took  the  matter  so  gently  that  they  declared 
he  had  "religion"  and  let  him  go  at  pleasure. 
When  my  wife  found  that  her  horse  was  gone, 
the  horse  her  father  had  given  to  her,  and  that 
he  was  probably  being  abused,  she  was  troub- 
led and  "sweat  at  the  eyes."  Old  Father 
Rankin,  John  Rankin,  had  come  across  the 
Ohio  river  to  attend  the  meeting;  and  byway 
of  comfort  to  my  wife,  said :  "Why,  Sister 
Fee,  I  have  had  my  horse's  tail  shaved  and 
mane  cropped  and  one  ear  cut  off,  and  he 
rode  just  as  well  afterward  as  before."  Not 
long  after  "Ben"  was  found  quietly  browsing 
among  the  bushes  and  waiting  to  do  his  part 
in  further  evangelization. 

The  next  day  it  was  confidently  asserted 
assault  would  be  made  on  our  way  home. 
The  proposed  assault,  however,  had  been  dis- 
concerted by  the  sudden  death  of  the  leader, 
who  was  killed  in  a  saw-mill.  As  angry  mem- 
bers of  the  proposed  mob  two  men  waylaid 
us,  but  were  hindered  from  personal  violence 
by  the  presence  of  a   sturdy   farmer,  who  had 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  45 

purposely  planned  to  return  home  with  us. 
One  of  the  assailants,  with  a  club  in  hand, 
rode  rapidly  up  to  me  in  a  threatening  atti- 
tude; but  my  wife,  dexterous  on  horseback  as 
he,  at  each  moment  interposed  herself  be- 
tween me  and  H.  After  two  or  three  passes, 
the  sturdy  farmer  rode  up  and  said:  "Han- 
nahs, if  you  do  not  clear  out  from  here,  I  will 
get  down  and  beat  you  till  there  shall  not  be  a 
sound  bone  in  your  body."  Hannahs  con- 
tented himself  by  dismounting  and  throwing 
stones,  one  of  which  struck  me,  but  without 
serious  injury  to  me. 

Whilst  not  seriously  injured,  I  saw  this  was 
my  opportunity  to  show,  that  whilst  I  did  not 
avenge  personal  injury  I  would  show  respect 
to  civil  law  by  appealing  to  it  for  protection 
and  gaining,  if  possible,  a  decision  of  the 
courts  in  favor  of  free  speech  and  personal 
security.  I  brought  the  case  before  the  grand 
jury,  and  through  that  into  the  circuit  court. 

The  judge  was  a  slaveholder.  He  said  to 
the  court:  "Gentlemen,  Mr.  Fee  is  an  Aboli- 
tionist, and  if  slave-holding  is  sinful,  then  the 
Abolitionists  are  right.  They  say,  repent  of 
sin  immediately;  and  you  would  not  say  to 
pickpockets,  quit  your  sin    gradually."     But 


46  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

having  called  for  a  Bible,  he  opened  it  and 
said:  "Slavery  is  not  sinful;  the  Bible  sanc- 
tions it/'  and  referred  to  the  case  of  Abraham, 
and  the  instruction  of  Moses  to  buy  of  the 
heathen  round  about,  and  of  Paul  as  return- 
ing Onesimus,  "a  runaway  slave."  Closing 
the  book,  he  said:  „  "But,  gentlemen,  free 
speech  must  be  had;  and  Mr.  Hannahs  ought 
to  be  ashamed  of  his  conduct,  and  the  court 
must  fine  him." 

This  decision  gave  to  me  a  measure  of  pro- 
tection in  Lewis  County,  but  did  not  wholly 
suppress  the  spirit  of  violence  in  adjoining 
counties. 

About  this  time,  at  my  suggestion,  a  peti- 
tion was  sent  to  Cassius  M.  Clay,  requesting 
him  to  come  to  Lewis  County,  July  4th,  1846, 
and  make  to  us  an  address  on  the  subject  of 
slavery  and  emancipation.  The  call  was 
signed  by  twenty-seven  citizens,  to  be  sent  to 
Mr.  Clay. 

Mr.  Clay  accepted  the  invitation,  commend- 
ed highly  the  courage  of  the  men  who  had 
made  the  call,  but  sent  back  the  sad  intelli- 
gence that  he  must  defer  the  purposed  address 
until  his  return  from  the  war  with  Mexico. 

Accompanying  this  call  went  the  letter  of  a 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  47 

neighbor,  saying:  "The  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment of  the  community  will  soon  be  embodied, 
and  it  will  be  made  known  that  no  man,  Whig 
or  Democrat,  can  have  their  votes  who  is  a 
practical  slaveholder,  or  an  apologist  for  sla- 
very." This  was  sent  to  Mr.  Clay  and  pub- 
lished in  the  True  American.  This  stirred 
the  slave  power,  especially  in  Mason  County* 
the  adjoining  county.  An  article  appeared  in 
the  Maysville  Eagle,  which  in  some  respects 
misrepresented  the  statement  of  the  former, 
by  saying:  "This  is  as  rank  Abolitionism  as 
was  ever  uttered  by  Birney  or  Tappan.  No 
slaveholder  is  hereafter  to  receive  the  votes 
of  these  simon-pure  liberty  men;  and  they 
who  dare  to  apologize  for  the  institutions  of 
our  country  are  thus  denounced  and  pro- 
scribed, and  this  is  heralded  forth  as  the  sen- 
timents of  Lewis  County."  This  was  a  mis- 
representation. The  sentiments  only  of  those 
organized  were  declared. 

Mr.  Clay,  having  declined  then  to  come, 
and  the  slave  power  raging,  some  ten  men  of 
the  twenty-seven  who  had  signed  the  call  in- 
viting Mr.  Clay  to  come,  took  back  their 
names;  and  upon  myself,  Mr.  Clay's  corres- 
pondent,  were  gathered  the    severest  anath- 


48  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

emas,  and  threats  of  violence  and  of  the  utter 
destruction  of  my  house.  The  night  for 
the  work  of  desperation  was  fixed.  My 
friends  expected  the  threatened  violence, 
and  a  man  whom  we  knew  as  a  friend  and 
one  who  had  opportunity  to  know  the  move- 
ments of  our  enemies  came  three  times  during 
the  day  and  entreated  that  I  leave  my  home 
or  I  would  certainly  be  killed.  At  night  we 
went  to  bed  as  usual.  The  night  was  one  of 
terrific  darkness,  thunder  and  lightning. 
Many,  with  purposes  of  violence,  did  gather 
at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  but  dispersed  be- 
fore the  frowning  elements.  Soon  after  this 
the  prime  mover  was  killed  by  a  tenant.  The 
slain  man,  though  a  major,  a  slaveholder  with 
large  property,  was  so  little  esteemed  by  his 
neighbors  that,  as  I  was  informed,  scarce- 
ly enough  gathered  to  give  to  him  a  decent 
burial.  Another  man  who  shot  at  me  whilst 
I  was  sitting  in  my  house,  was  soon  afterward 
drowned  in  the  Ohio  river. 

For  reasons  manifest  my  audiences  were 
small.  Many  whose  sympathies  were  with 
the  principles  of  justice  and  liberty  were 
afraid  to  be  seen  listening  to  me  in  public 
audiences.     I  saw    I  must  try  and  reach  the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  49 

people  at  their  homes,  at  their  firesides;  and  I 
decided  I  would  write  and  publish  an  anti- 
slavery  manual,  a  hand-book  showing  the 
testimony  of  God's  Word  against  slavery, — 
the  evil  consequences  of  slavery  upon  society, 
and  with  these  show  the  unity  of  the  human 
race — that  verily  "God  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men."  The  matter  for 
this  manual  I  prepared,  and,  for  best  effect, 
decided  to  publish  in  Kentucky, — in  Maysville, 
a  city  near  by. 

Whilst  preliminary  arrangements  were  be- 
ing made,  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence  in 
that  city  wrote  to  me  a  letter,  saying  that  if  I 
should  come  to  that  city  and  attempt  to 
publish  an  anti-slavery  book  he  would  head  a 
band  of  sixty  men,  ride  me  on  a  rail  and  duck 
me  in  the  Ohio  river.  I  went  on  with  my 
publishing,  and  attended  to  proof-reading 
there  in  the  city.  Whilst  there  the  conductor 
of  the  press  said  to  me:  "My  father,  Judge 
Chambers  and  John  A.  McClung,  will  this 
forenoon  make  speeches  in  the  court  house. 
Come,  go  down."     I  went. 

I  had  a  few  days  previously  headed  a  peti- 
tion to  Congress  praying  that  Texas  might  be 
admitted  as  a  free  State  and    thus  delivered 


50  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

from  slavery,  which  our  own  statesman, 
Henry  Clay,  admitted  to  be  a  curse.  As  the 
meeting  was  about  to  adjourn,  a  little  fellow, 
a  practicing  attorney  at  the  bar,  well  known 
as  Tom  Payne,  jumped  to  his  feet  and  said: 
"There  is  a  matter  here  that  ouodit  to  be  now 
attended  to.  There  is,"  said  he,  "a  certain 
man  by  the  name  of  John  G.  Fee  up  here  in 
the  edge  of  Lewis  County,  who  has  headed  a 
petition  to  Congress  in  which  he  denounces 
Henry  Clay,  the  son  of  Kentucky.  It  is  time 
such  men  were  silenced  and  driven  out  of  the 
county."  As  he  ended  this  sentence,  I  arose 
to  my  feet,  and  addressing  the  chairman, 
Judge  Reed,  the  noted  defender  of  slavery 
and  free  speech  previously  referred  to,  said: 
"Mr.  Chairman,  I  happen  to  know  something 
about  that  petition.  I  drafted  it  and  know 
that  Henry  Clay  is  not  denounced.  So  far  as 
he  is  concerned,  his  words  are  commended." 
Cries  went  up:  "Take  him  out;  take  him 
out."  Instantly  almost  the  whole  house  arose 
to  their  feet.  Some  tried  to  get  me  into  the 
aisle.  I  refused.  I  knew  that  was  not  the 
place  of  security  to  me.  A  stout  man,  a 
stone-mason,  stepped  to  my  side,  and  with  an 
uplifted,  brawny    arm,    said:     "Men,    I  have 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  51 

been  in  one  war  (1812),  and  will  be  in  an- 
other before  this  man  is  taken  out."  He 
knew  me. 

Judge  Reed,  with  stentorian  voice,  cried 
out:  "Sit  down,  men,  sit  down.  I  would  be 
ashamed  to  preside  in  a  meeting  where  a  man 
is  publicly  assailed  and  yet  not  allowed  a 
word  in  defense.  One  of  old  said:  'Though 
you  slay  me,  hear  me.'  Speak  on,  speak  on." 
I  did  so,  and  the  audience  dispersed  quietly. 
We  here  scored  another  count  for  free  speech 
and  personal  security. 

I  went  on  with  the  publication  of  my  book, 
and  distributed  with  my  own  hands  many  copies 
in  the  city. 

Afterward  the  American  Missionary  As- 
sociation abridged  the  book  and  distributed 
many  copies  in  this  and  other  States. 

I  wrote,  for  more  general  distribution,  a 
tract  on  the  sinfulness  of  slave-holding;  another 
on  the  duty  of  non-fellowship  of  slaveholders 
in  church  relationship,  and  another  on  the 
folly  of  colonization  as  a  plan  of  emancipation. 

Just  about  this  time  the  occasion  for  another 
protest  came, — a  protest  against  secret  orders. 
We  had  a  union  temperance  society,  into 
which  all,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  could 
come,  "without  money  and  without  price," 


52  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

It  was  proposed  that  there  be  formed  in  our 
school-house  a  society  known  as  "Sons  of 
Temperance."  I  was  requested  to  join  and 
give  my  influence.  I  declined  the  invitation 
to  join,  and  in  a  public  discourse  gave  my 
reasons  for  so  declining. 

First,  impracticable.  The  form  of  organi- 
zation— initiation  fees,  with  passwords  and 
closed  doors, — such  will  shut  out  a  large  portion 
of  society,  will  fail  to  meet  the  needed  end, — 
the  reclamation  of  the  masses. 

Second,  the  secret  principle  is  wrong,  (i) 
It  is  contrary  to  the  genius  of  republican  in- 
stitutions, where  every  movement  affecting 
the  interests  of  society  is  supposed  to  be  open 
to  the  view  of  all. 

2.  Unfair.  Such  societies  being  secret, 
give  one  class  of  men  an  unknown  and  an 
undue  advantage  over  the  other  members  of 
society, — an  unfair  advantage. 

3.  Dangerous.  Such  societies  give  oppro- 
tunities  not  only  for  unfair  advantages,  but 
opportunities  to  bad  men  to  devise  measures 
not  only  injurious  to  society  but  perilous  to 
governments.  Such  sad  experiences  have 
occurred. 

4.  Such    societies    are  selfish,  and  as  such, 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  53 

contrary  to  the  spirit  and  letter  of  Christianity. 
( i )  They  reject  the  very  objects  of  charity — 
"the  halt,  the  lame,  the  blind,"— help  those 
who  help  the  society  and  can  help  themselves. 
(2)  Usually  they  reject  men  in  this  country 
simply  because  they  are  colored.  This  fosters 
the  spirit  of  caste.  (3)  This  society,  as  such, 
hides  from  the  world  whatever  light  or  good 
it  may  have, — "puts  it  under  a  bushel." 
Christianity  requires  that  we  let  our  light 
shine ;  if  we  have  good  works  let  them  be  seen. ' 
If  there  be  any  thing  good,  society  ought  to 
have  the  benefit  of  it.  (4)  This  was  the 
precedent  of  our  Lord,  who  said:  "I  spake 
openly  in  the  temple,  and  in  secret  have  I  said 
nothing."     He  is  our  pattern. 

It  was  then  said:  "The  amount  of  secrecy 
is  small."  I  said,  the  principle  is  just  as 
certainly  vicious  when  small  as  when  large; 
a  poison  is  the  same,  little  or  much.  I  said 
the  devil  tempts  not  to  vice  in  its  gross  form : 
at  first  only  in  small  proportions,  and  that 
veiled  by  some  assumed  good;  "he  comes  as 
an  angel  of  light."  I  said:  "Some  of  you 
know  that  it  is  just  in  this  way  Jesuitism  now 
works.     It  does  evil  that  good  may  come." 

I  said,  "I  have    traced  the   history    of  your 


54  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

movement.  It  was  concocted  almost  ex- 
clusively by  Free-masons  and  Odd-fellows." 
These  men  knew  that  temperance  was  a  good 
and  reputable  thing,  and  that  if  the  youth  of 
the  land  could  have  their  minds  familiarized 
with  the  secret  principle,  made  reputable  by 
association  with  acknowledged  good,  then  it 
will  be  easy,  after  a  time,  for  such  to  step  into 
other  orders  with  larger  measures  of  secrecy, 
even  those  associated  with  blasphemous  oaths, 
a  false  religion,  a  religion  like  that  of  Free- 
masonry, which  claims  to  fit  men  for  the  lodge 
above, — "a  religion  in  which  all  men  can 
agree," — Jews  and  pagans,  Mohammedans 
and  Parsees;  a  religion  of  mere  sacrilegious 
rites;  a  religion  in  which  the  name  of  Christ 
is  excluded  from  every  official  prayer;  Christ 
treated  as  Mohammed,  Zoroaster  or  Con- 
fucius; yes,  worse,  the  name  expurgated  from 
Scriptures  quoted. — See  Mackey's  Ritual,  pp. 
384-5.  I  said  to  my  hearers:  "Beware  of 
those  stepping  stones  that  lead  to  institutions 
that  are  blaphemous,  delusive,  and  perilous  to 
society  and  republican  institutions." 

The  "Sons"  did  not  live  long  in  that  region. 
Afterwards,  when  I  had  moved  to  Madison 
Co.,  where  I  now  live,  I  was  told  by  an  influ- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  55 

ential  friend,  who  was  a  Free-mason,  that  if  I 
would  join  the  Masons  I  would  be  protected 
from  the  mobs.  I  replied:  "If  my  protection 
and  immunity  from  violence  is  to  be  secured 
by  connection  with  orders  at  once  delusive, 
selfish,  perilous  to  society  and  treacherous  to 
Christ,  then  I  cannot  have  protection  from 
such  men."  Before  I  came  to  Madison,  I  was 
waylaid,  shot  at,  clubbed,  stoned;  by  force 
kept  out  of  church  houses;  and  since  I  came 
to  Madison,  have  been  in  the  hands  of  six 
regularly  organized  mobs  of  violent  men,  yet 
have  I  not  shown  the  secret  sign  of  distress, 
nor  muttered  the  words,  "Is  there  no  help  for 
the  widow's  son?" 

I  have  by  these  persecutions  been  brought 
into  deeper  sympathy  with  Him  whose  judg- 
ment was  taken  from  Him  and  who  said : 
"Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall  revile  you 
and  persecute  you,  and  say  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you  falsely  for  my  sake  . "  His  gra- 
cious benediction  was  more  than  the  maledic- 
tions of  men.  I  yet  live,  and  live  to  praise 
Him  for  that  abundant  grace  which,  like  the 
"red  thread,"  has  run  through  the  cordage  of 
my  life. 


56  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  III. 

Commission  from  the  A.  M.  A. — Preaching  and  Church 
Building. —  Redemption  of  a  Slave  Woman. — Her 
Effort  to  Free  her  Children. — Her  Capture  and  Im- 
prisonment. 

In  1848  I  received  a  commission  from  the 
American  Missionary  Association — appro- 
priation $200,  as  I  now  remember.  Previous 
to  this,  for  more  than  a  year,  my  wife  and  I 
had  lived  on  our  own  small  resource.  My 
wife  was  industrious;  and  I  believe  no  man 
ever  accused  me  of  being  idle.  Aside  from 
necessity,  we  had  resolved  that  we  would  not 
only  advocate  free  labor,  but  also,  as  far  as  we 
could,  we  would  dignify  labor  by  the  work  of 
our  hands. 

By  this  time  we  had  a  little  frame  house 
built  by  the  community  to  be  used  as  a  school- 
house  and  a  church  house.  The  Lord  granted 
to  us  a  manifestation  of  his  presence.  Twenty- 
one  persons  were  converted,  a  prayer  meeting 
and  Sunday-school  sustained. 

In  this  year,   1848,  I  began  regular  preach- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  57 

ing  in  Bracken  County,  my  native  country  and 
the  native  country  of  my  wife.  The  place 
for  preaching  was  in  a  school-house,  distant 
from  my  home  in  Lewis  twenty-five  miles. 
To  this  appointment  I  came  every  second 
week.  Here  Wm.  Goodell  visited  us  and 
preached  two  or  three  sermons.  I  continued 
regular  preaching.  The  first  person  who 
there  came  forward  to  confess  Christ,  was  my 
mother-in-law,  Elizabeth  Hamilton.  Next 
came  John  D.  Gregg,  her  brother,  a  faithful 
man.  One  after  another  came.  In  process 
of  time  came  Mary  Gregg,  mother  of  the  first 
two  who  came.  She  had  secured  to  a  bond- 
man a  deed  of  emancipation  before  she  joined 
the  church.  Thus  the  testimony  of  the 
church  was  kept  clear  from  any  appearance 
of  connivance  at  any  form  of  oppression. 

Soon  it  became  manifest  that  we  must  have 
a  larger  house.  We  decided  to  build.  We 
were  all  of  one  mind  that  the  highest  security 
demanded  that  we  build  a  brick  house.  We 
so  decided.  I  asked  the  question :  "Shall 
the  seats  be  free?"  The  question  was  ap- 
parently a  surprise.  One  after  another  said: 
"Certainly."  "But,"  I  said,  "do  you  mean  what 
you  say?"     The   reply  was:     "We    suppose 


58  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

we  do."  I  said:  "If  when  the  house  shall 
be  erected,  a  colored  man,  free  or  slave,  shall 
come  in  and  seat  himself  as  any  other  man, 
where  he  thinks  he  can  hear  to  the  best  ad- 
vantage, will  that  with  you  be  all  right?" 
John  D.  Gregg  said,  "Yes;"  some  others  said 
"Yes."  After  a  silence  a  good  brother  whose 
probity  was  known  all  over  the  county,  said : 
"Bro.  Fee,  that  is  my  rule  in  my  house;  and 
when  Billie  C — —comes  in  he  sits  down  atmy 
table  as  I  do;  but  in  a  place  of  public  worship 
as  you  here  propose,  you  cannot  do  this.  If 
you  attempt  it  one  brick  will  not  be  left  on 
another."  I  said,  "In  the  light  of  your  own 
example  to  do  so  is  right,  is  it  not?"  "Yes, 
Bro.  Fee;  but  all  things  that  are  lawful  are 
not  expedient."  I  said:  "In  mere  measures, 
that  may  often  be  true,  but  in  questions  of 
morals — a  religious  movement  like  this — it 
will  be  wise  to  do  what  is  confessedly  right." 
He  then  said  he  had  subscribed  $100,  and 
would  now  leave  $50  for  us  to  try  with. 
Another  took  back  part  of  his  subscription. 
Others  increased  theirs.  A  young  man  then 
living  in  the  community,  an  earnest,  active 
Abolitionist  who  loved  to  buttonhole  every 
conservative  preacher  he  could  get  his  hands 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  59 

on,  said,  "You  put  up  the  walls  and  I  will  put 
on  the  roof."  The  walls  went  up,  and  I.  B. 
C.  put  on  the  roof.  The  little  brick  church 
yet.  stands.  At  the  end  of  entrance,  above 
the  doorways,  is  a  white  marble  slab,  placed 
there  by  John  D.  Gregg;  and  of  his  own 
devising  are  inscribed  these  words,  "Free 
Church  of  Christ."  The  sentiment  it  ex- 
pressed was,  church  of  Christ,  undenomi- 
national, free  to  all  men. 

The  church  was  blessed.  A  generation  of 
young  people  was  raised  up  there  who,  with 
their  children,  and  even  children's  children, 
have  gone  out  to  disseminate  sentiments  there 
learned  and  to  bless  society  wherever  they 
have  gone.  The  church  there,  with  its  long 
protest  against  slavery,  caste,  sectarianism, 
still  lives.  It  is  like  the  church  in  Lewis 
County,  feeble  and  without  a  pastor.  If  there 
is  any  thing  I  desire  in  this  world,  it  is  to  find 
some  faithful  man  who  will  go  and  minister  to 
that  people,  and  then  some  faithful  men  and 
women  who  will  sustain  that  man. 

In  the  midst  of  this  season  of  church  plant- 
ing and  church  building,  there  arose  a  sudden 
and  an  unexpected  duty;  one  which  speedily 
involved  much   perplexity  of  mind   and  then 


60  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

anguish  of  spirit,  not  to  me  alone,  but  to  others 
also;  and  this  not  for  a  day,  a  week,  a  month, 
but,  more  or  less,  for  years.  The  relation- 
ship once  entered  upon  could  not  be  relin- 
quished without  moral  delinquency. 

The  incipient  duty  was  the  redemption  of  a 
woman,  a  slave  then  in  my  father's  family. 
This  woman  had  lived  for  years  with  her  hus- 
band in  the  same  family  and  was  then  the 
mother  of  mothers  in  the  same  family— -the 
mother  of  daughters  who  were  mothers. 
This  grandmother,  yet  comparatively  young, 
was  a  member  of  the  same  church  where  my 
father,  mother  and  sister  were  members. 
Here,  slaves,  though  members  with  their 
masters,  were  not  allowed  to  sit  in  the  same 
part  of  the  church  house  nor  at  the  same  time 
partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  with  their  white 
fellow  Christians.  The  slaves  at  this  time  sat 
in  a  gallery  at  the  end  of  the  church  house, 
and  when  white  Christians  had  been  served, 
one  of  the  elders  would  say:  "Now  you  black 
ones,  if  you  wish  to  commune,  come  down." 
This  they  did  by  an  outside,  uncovered 
rough  stairway,  and  then  around  outside  the 
house  came  on  to  the  doors  of  entrance,  and 
facing  the   congregation    came    to    the    seats 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  61 

vacated  for  them,  and  thus  ate  the  Lord's 
Supper.  Thus  did  slaves  indeed  "strive  to 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

Intelligence  came  to  me  that  my  brother 
had  advised  my  father  to  sell  the  woman  re- 
ferred to,  for  the  reason  that  there  were  more 
women  in  the  family  than  were  needed. 

I  said  to  my  wife:  "I  cannot  redeem  all 
slaves,  nor  even  all  in  my  father's  family,  but 
the  labors  of  Julett  and  her  husband  contrib- 
uted in  part  to  the  purchase  of  the  land  I  yet 
own  in  Indiana,  and  to  sell  those  lands  and 
redeem  her  will  be  in  some  measure  returning 
to  her  and  her  husband  what  they  have  toiled 
for."  My  wife  said:  "Do  what  you  think  is 
right."  I  took  my  horse,  rode  twenty-five 
miles  to  my  father's  house  and  spent  the  night. 
In  the  morning  of  the  next  day  I  sought  an 
opportunity  when  my  father  was  alone,  and 
having  learned  that  he  would  sell,  asked  what 
he  would  take  for  Julett.  He  fixed  his  price. 
I  said:  "Will  you  sell  her  to  me  if  I  bring  to 
you  the  money?"  He  said  yes.  I  immedi- 
ately rode  to  Germantown  and  borrowed  the 
requisite  amount  of  money  by  mortgaging  my 
remaining  tract  of  land  for  the  payment. 
Whilst  there  I  executed  a  bill  of  sale,  so  that 


62  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

without  delay  my  father  could  sign  it,  before 
he  even  returned  from  the  field  at  noon.  I 
tendered  to  him  the  money  and  the  bill  of 
sale.  He  signed  the  bill  of  sale,  and  took  the 
money.  I  immediately  went  to  "Add,"  the 
husband  of  Julett,  and  told  him  I  had  bought 
Julett  and  should  immediately  secure  by 
law  her  freedom.  I  said  to  him:  "I  would 
gladly  redeem  you  but  I  have  not  the  means." 
He  replied:  "I  am  glad  you  can  free  her;  I 
can  take  care  of  myself  better  than  she  can." 
I  went  to  the  house,  wrote  a  perpetual  pass 
for  the  woman,  gave  it  to  her,  and  said,  "You 
are  a  free  woman;  be  in  bondage  to  no  man." 
Tears  of  gratitude  ran  down  her  sable  cheeks. 
I  then  told  her  that  at  the  first  county-court 
day  I  would  take  her  to  the  clerk's  office, 
where  her  height  could  be  taken  and  she  be 
otherwise  described,  and  a  record  of  her  free- 
dom made.  This  was  just  before  the  amend- 
ment to  the  State  Constitution  that  forbade 
emancipation  in  the  State.  At  noon  my 
father  came  in  and  told  my  mother  of 
the  transaction.  My  mother  was  displeased, 
— did  not  want  to  spare  the  woman  from 
certain  work  for  which  she  was  fitted. 
My  father  came  to  me    and    requested  that  I 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  63 

cancel  the  contract  and  give  up  the  bill  of 
sale.  I  said  to  him,  "Here  is  my  horse,  and  I 
have  a  house  and  lot  in  Lewis  County;  I  will 
give  them  to  you  if  you  so  desire;  but  to  sell 
a  human  being  I  may  not."  He  became  very 
angry  and  went  to  the  freed  woman  and  said 
to  her,  "When  you  leave  this  house  never  put 
your  foot  on  my  farm  again,  for  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  have  a  free  nigger  on  my  farm."  The 
woman,  the  wife  and  mother,  came  to  me  and 
said,  "Master  says  if  I  leave  here  I  shall  never 
come  back  again;  I  cannot  leave  my  children; 
I  would  rather  go  back  into  slavery."  I  said, 
I  have  done  what  I  regarded  as  my  duty.  To 
now  put  you  back  into  slavery,  I  cannot.  We 
must  simply  abide  the  consequences.  The 
woman  was  in  deep  distress  and  helpless  as  a 
child.  Although  I  had  my  horse  and  was 
ready  to  ride,  I  felt  I  could  not  leave  the  help- 
less one  until  a  way  of  relief  should  open. 
After  a  time  Julett  came  to  me  and  said,  "As 
long  as  mistress  shall  live  I  can  stand  it;  I 
would  rather  stay."  I  said,  "You  are  a  free 
woman  and  must  make  your  own  decision. 
If  my  father  will  furnish  to  you  a  home,  and 
clothe  and  feed  you,  and  you  shall  choose  as  a 
free  woman  to  stay,  all  well;  but  to  sell  you 


64  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

back  into  slavery,  I  cannot."  To  this  propo- 
sition to  furnish  a  home  to  the  freed  woman 
my  father  agreed.  There  was  now  a  home 
for  the  freed  woman,  and  this  with  her  hus- 
band and  children  and  grand-children. 

That  day  of  agony  was  over  and  eventide 
had  come.  I  spent  the  night.  The  next 
morning  just  as  I  was  about  starting  back  to 
my  home,  my  father  said  to  me,  "Julett  is 
here  on  my  premises,  and  I  will  sell  her  be- 
fore sundown  if  I  can."  I  turned  to  him  and 
said,  "Father,  I  am  now  that  woman's  only 
guardian.  Her  husband  cannot  protect  her, 
—I  only  can.  I  must  do  as  I  would  be  done 
by;  and  though  it  is  hard  for  me  to  now  say 
to  you  what  I  intended  to  say,  yet  if  you  sell 
that  woman,  I  will  prosecute  you  for  so  doing, 
as  sure  as  you  are  a  man."  I  saw  the  peril 
of  the  defenseless  woman,  I  would  gladly 
have  cast  from  me  the  cup  of  a  further  con- 
test, but  I  saw  that  to  leave  her,  though  now 
a  free  woman,  was  not  the  end  of  obligation. 
I  felt  forcibly  the  applicability  of  the  words, 
"Cursed  be  he  that  doeth  the  work  of  the 
Lord  negligently,  and  cursed  be  he  that  keep- 
eth  back  the  sword  from  blood."  Jer.  48:  10. 
I  mounted  my  horse    and  rode    twelve  miles 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  65 

where  I  could  get  legal  counsel, — counsel  on 
which  I  could  rely,  I  found  that  if  I  left  the 
woman  on  my  father's  premises  without  any 
public  record  of  her  having  been  sold,  the  fact 
of  her  being  then  on  his  premises  would  be 
regarded  as  "prima  facie"  evidence  that  she 
was  his  property  and  that  he  could  sell  her. 
I  also  found  that  in  as  much  as  he  had  sold 
her  to  me,  I  could,  by  law,  compel  him  to  do 
that  which  was  just  and  right, — make  a  record 
of  the  fact  of  sale.  I  rode  back  twelve  miles, 
told  my  father  what  was  his  legal  obligation, 
and  asked  him  to  conform  to  it.  He  said  he 
would  not.  I  then  said  to  him,  "It  will  be  a 
hard  trial  for  me  to  arraign  my  father  in  a 
civil  court,  for  neglect  of  justice  to  a  helpless 
woman,  and  also  for  a  plain  violation  of  law; 
but  I  will  do  so,  as  sure  as  you  are  a  man,  if 
you  do  not  make  the  required  record  of  sale." 
After  hesitancy  and  delay  he  made  the  record. 
These  were  hours  of  distress  to  me,  to  my 
father,  to  my  mother,  and  to  the  ransomed 
woman;  but  the  only  way  to  ultimate  peace, 
was  to  hold  on  rigidly  to  the  right;  though  in 
so  doing  I  had,  in  the  Gospel  sense,  to  leave 
father,  mother,  brother,  sisters,  houses,  lands, 
— all,  for  Christ's  sake.  I  was  conscious  that 
no  other  motive  impelled  me. 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

The  legal  process  ended,  the  woman  was 
then  secure,  and  in  a  home,  for  the  time  being, 
with  her  husband  and  children.  Not  long 
after  this  my  mother  died.  The  services  of 
the  freed  woman  were  the  more  needed 
where  she  then  was.  To  her  were  born,  into 
freedom,  three  more  children.  About  this 
time  her  husband,  through  a  friend,  found  the 
record  of  the  time  of  his  bond  service.  He, 
by  legal  process,  secured  his  freedom  and 
recovered  several  hundred  dollars,  as  com- 
pensation for  services  rendered  beyond  the 
time  he  should  have  enjoyed  his  liberty. 

After  a  time  the  freed  woman  decided  to 
take  her  three  free  children,  and  go  to  Ohio, 
where  she  could  have  better  opportunities  for 
herself  and  her  little  ones.  The  war  of  1861- 
5  was  approaching.  Information  came  to  her 
that  my  brother,  whose  home  was  in  New 
Orleans,  La.,  would,  on  his  return  from  New 
York,  take  all  the  slave  children  South.  This 
mother  determined  to  try  to  save  her  children 
from  such  a  fate,  and  get  them,  if  possible, 
into  freedom.  She  came  to  Kentucky  to  the 
old  home.  In  the  night  season  she  gathered 
together  two  sons,  three  daughters  and  four 
grand-children.      (Another  son  had  previously 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  67 

been  sold,  another  slave  had  gone  "to  parts 
unknown",)  One  of  these  daughters  and  three 
grand-children  had  to  be  gathered  from  an 
adjoining  county.  Monday  morning  the 
mother,  with  five  children  and  three  grand- 
children, appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio 
river.  The  sun  had  already  risen  and  the 
friends  on  the  other  side  had  gone.  The 
mother,  her  children  and  grand-children  were 
captured  and  put  into  jail  for  safe  keeping. 
My  father  immediately  sold  all  but  the  freed 
woman  to  a  slave  trader,  who  shipped  all  of 
them  to  the  South.  From  these  we  have 
never  heard  even  a  trace. 

At  the    time  of   this  sad  occurrence  I  wras 

eastward,   attending  a  meeting  of  the  A.  M. 

Association.     On  my  way  home,  and  whilst  at 

Cincinnati,    Levi   Coffin  said   to    me,   "John, 

Julett  is  in  jail,  and  thy  father  hath  sold  all  of 

her  children  to  the  slave  trader."     Instead  of 

going  home  to  my  family  then  out  in  Madison 

Co.,  and,  as  I  had  reason  to  believe  they  were 

not  in   jail,  I  went  up  to  Bracken  County  to 

my  father's  house.     I  enquired  into  the  facts. 

He  said,  "Yes,  I  have  sold  them  and  have  the 

money  in  my  pocket."     I  immediately  went  to 

see   that   faithful    man,  John  D.  Gregg,  and 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

asked  him  to  bail  the  woman.  He  agreed  to 
do  so.  He  went  to  the  county  judge  and 
offered  to  be  security  for  the  woman's  presence 
at  the  time  for  her  trial.  The  judge  accepted 
the  offer,  and  was  preparing  an  obligation  for 
Brother  Gregg  to  sign,  when  a  young 
attorney  came  up  and  served  a  writ  on  the 
woman  for  stealing  slaves  (her  own  child  and 
three  grand-children)  from  another  county. 
The  woman  was  immediately  remanded  to 
prison. 

My  wife  was  in  Bracken  County  at  the 
time.  She  went  to  the  prison  and  asked  the 
privilege  of  seeing  Julett  and  her  children. 
The  wife  of  the  keeper  only  was  there.  She 
told  my  wife  that  no  one  was  allowed  to  go 
into  the  jail  but  the  keeper  himself.  My  wife 
then  asked  if  she  could  speak  to  Julett.  The 
wife  of  the  keeper  said,  "Yes,  you  can  speak 
through  the  floor,"  and  turned  aside  a  piece 
of  carpet  that  covered  a  crevice  in  the  floor. 
My  wife  approached  and  called.  Julett  knew 
her  voice  and  cried  out,  "Oh,  Mis'  Tilda; 
where  is  Master  Gregg?"  (Gregg  is  my 
middle  name;  I  was  known  by  that  name  in 
boyhood  days.)  My  wife  said,  "He  is  east- 
ward,— in    Massachusetts."     Then  she    cried 


JOHN  O.  FEE.  69 

out,  "Oh,  Mis'  Tilda,  what  will  they  do  with 
me?"  My  wife  replied,  "They  can  do  no 
more  than  send  you  to  the  penitentiary;  don't 
be  distressed.  You  have  committed  no 
crime;  for  what  mother  would  not  try  to  get 
her  children  out  of  slavery?"  My  wife  said 
she  could  then  hear  the  young  mothers  and 
their  children  crying  and  sobbing  below.  My 
wife  again  said  to  Julett,  "They  can  only 
send  you  to  Frankfort"  (the  place  of  the 
State's  prison).  "We  will  come  to  see  you 
there."  By  this  time  white  men  at  the  door 
were  cursing,  and  the  jailor's  wife  was  mani- 
festly uneasy.  My  wife  left.  As  previously 
stated  the  children  and  grand-children  were 
sold  and  shipped  South.  The  mother  had  her 
trial,  and  was  sentenced  to  the  State's  prison. 
Here,  let  me  say,  the  torture  of  the  body  is 
terribly  cruel,  and  yet  it  is  the  smallest  part 
of  the  crime  of  human  slavery.  I  have  seen 
women  tied  to  a  tree  or  a  timber  and  whipped 
with  cow-hides  on  their  bare  bodies  until  their 
shrieks  would  seem  to  rend  the  very  heavens. 
I  have  seen  a  man,  a  father,  guilty  only  of  the 
crime  of  absenting  himself  from  work  for  a 
day  and  two  nights,  on  his  return  home 
whipped    with  a    cow-hide  on    his  bare  flesh 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

until  his  blood  ran  to  his  heels.  Thousands 
of  slaves  have  been  whipped  and  beaten  to 
death  even  for  trivial  offences,  as  that  of  a 
slave  in  a  county  adjoining  to  this,  whipped  to 
death  for  going,  in  the  hour  of  night,  to  see 
his  wife,  in  violation  of  the  master's  com- 
mands. Yet  this  torture  of  the  body  was  the 
least  part  of  the  agony  of  slavery.  The  acme 
of  the  crime  was  on  the  soul.  The  crushing 
of  human  hearts,  sundering  the  ties  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  parent  and  child,  shrouding  all 
of  manhood  in  the  long  night  of  despair, — the 
crime  was  on  the  soul !  The  agony  of  our 
Lord  in  Gethsemane  was  that  of  the  soul,  not 
that  of  the  body. 

The  youth  of  this  generation  cannot  com- 
prehend the  enormity  of  human  slavery, — the 
effect  of  it  upon  society, — how  it  blunted  the 
sensibilities,  outraged  every  element  of  justice, 
fostered  licentiousness,  violence  and  crime  of 
almost  every  description.  And  yet  those  who 
practiced  and  sustained  this  iniquity,  often 
occupied  commanding  positions  both  in  church 
and  state!  And  here  I  wish  to  say,  that  the 
same  misrepresentation  of  Christianity  is  seen 
in  those  who  maintain  the  spirit  and  practice 
of  caste, — a  relic  of  the  barbarism  of  slavery. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  71 

To  crush  by  slight  or  invidious  conduct,  in 
church  or  in  civil  society,  any  man  or  woman 
of  merit,  is  as  truly  oppressive  and  wicked  as 
slavery  itself.  I  speak  of  conduct  toward 
meritorious  persons.  As  to  what  our  con- 
duct should  be  we  need  only  to  ask  what  our 
Lord,  our  great  Exampler,  would  do  were  he 
here  in  flesh. 

Our  family  visit  to  Julett  Miles,  whilst  yet 
in  prison,  will  be  given  in  another  chapter. 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Imprisonment  of  a  Colporter. — Assault  on  Myself. — • 
House  Burning. — Church  House. — Baptism. — Con- 
sideration of  the  Subject. — Baptism  of  Myself  and 
Wife. — Invitation  to  Madison  County. — Organization 
of  a  Church. — Call  to  the  Church. — Selection  of  a 
Place. — Name,  Berea. 

Other  scenes  of  trial  awaited  us  whilst  yet 
in  Lewis  Count)'.  We  had  colporters  in 
the  field  who  were  distributing  Bibles,  publica- 
tions of  the  American  Tract  Society,  and  anti- 
slavery  documents.  One  of  these  colporters 
was  charged  falsely  with  telling  a  slave  how 
he  might  get  into  a  free  State.  The  offense 
was  alleged  to  have  been  committed  in  the 
adjoining  county,  and  the  colporter  was 
therefore  arrested  and  taken  to  that  county 
and  there  imprisoned  to  await  his  trial.  I 
went  to  Maysville,  Ky.,  the  county  seat  of 
that  county,  that  I  might  minister  to  the  com- 
fort of  the  prisoner  and  secure  counsel  for  his 
defense.  On  my  way  home,  in  a  retired 
place,  Thornton  H.,  a  violent  man,  living  not 


JOHN  G.  FKE.  73 

far  from  my  home  and  openly  charged  with 
having  more  children  by  a  slave  woman  in  his 
kitchen,  than  by  his  lawful  wife,  rushed  sud- 
denly upon  me,  and  with  a  club  he  had  gath- 
ered from  the  woods,  struck  me  across  my 
head,  cutting  through  a  panama  hat  and  leav- 
ing a  severe  bruise.  He  struck  so  near  his 
hold  on  the  club  that  he  broke  it.  Had  he 
struck  me  on  the  back  of  my  head  he  would 
have  killed  me.  For  some  unaccountable 
reason  he  said  not  a  word,  turned  his  horse 
suddenly  from  me,  and  plunged  down  a  very 
steep  embankment  and  escaped  into  a  forest. 
Not  long  after  this,  in  a  re-encounter  with  an- 
other violent  man,  he  was  cut  across  the  abdo- 
men, his  bowels  gushed  out,  and  he  died. 
Thus  was  the  Scripture  verified  before  the 
people,  "the  bloody  and  deceitful  man  shall 
not  live  out  half  his  days."  A  like  fatality 
followed  the  men  in  Bracken,  Mason,  and 
Lewis  counties,  who  in  like  manner  had  laid 
violent  hands  upon  me.  In  common  with 
some  others,  I  had  the  conviction  that  God 
was  my  shield. 

In  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  the  little 
house  used  as  a  school  and  church  house  was 
burned  by  a  poor  white  man,  who  was  after- 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ward  known  as  a  "hired  tool."  I  said  to  the 
friends  that  we  must  have  a  larger  and  a  bet- 
ter house  in  which  to  worship.  The  church 
members  were  poor,  and  means  small.  One 
young  man  who  afterwards  prepared  for  the 
ministry,  said,  "I  have  not  money,  but  I  have 
two  strong  hands,  and  will  give  fifty  days' 
work  toward  the  erection  of  the  house."  My 
wife  said,  "Obed,  I'll  board  you."  I  procured 
a  cross-cut  saw,  went  with  neighbors  to  the 
woods,  cut  logs  and  helped  get  them  to  the 
sawmill,  secured  contributions,  employed  car- 
penters, put  on  shingles,  employed  plasterers 
and  made  mortar;  and  it  now  being  winter 
season,  I  made  and  kept  up  fires  until  mid- 
night to  keep  the  plastering  from  freezing.  I 
shared  in  the  work  until  seats  were  in  the 
house,  and  a  rough  desk  was  made  from 
which  to  speak. 

Just  at  this  time  came  a  providence  which 
has  had  no  small  share  in  shaping  the  convic- 
tions and  activities  of  my  life  for  the  past 
thirty-five  years.  On  one  occasion,  as  I  was 
passing  from  an  appointment  in  Bracken 
County  to  my  home  then  in  Lewis  County,  I 
called  to  see  Bro.  Grundy,  the  pastor  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  in  Maysville.     As   I  was 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  75 

leaving  he  said  to  me :  "I  have  a  little  book  I 
would  like  to  have  you  read.  It  is  the  work 
of  Moses  Stuart  on  Baptism.  Stuart,"  said 
he,  "is,  as  you  know,  one  of  the  greatest 
scholars  in  America." 

I  took  the  book,  and  rode  on  ten  miles  to 
my  home.  In  my  theological  course  I  had  not 
considered  the  subject  of  baptism.  In  my 
ministry,  up  to  that  time,  I  had  been  engaged 
in  pressing  the  claim  of  the  law  of  love  in  its 
application  to  slave-holding,  spirit  of  caste, 
secretism  and  sectism.  The  church  houses 
built  and  a  measure  of  quietude  secured,  I 
then  opened  the  book  and  found  on  page  50 
this  concession:  "In  classical  use  the  Greek 
word  baftizo  means,  to  dip,  plunge  or  im- 
merse in  any  liquid;  all  lexicographers  and 
critics  of  any  note  are  agreed  in  this."  He 
then  passed  to  the  use  of  the  word  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint.  The  Septuagint  is  the  Greek  version 
of  the  Old  Testament.  In  2  Kings  5:  14  he 
rendered  ebaftizeto  by  the  English  word 
"plunged."  "Naaman  plunged  himself  seven 
times  in  the  Jordan."  The  propriety  of  this 
rendering  is  seen  from  the  fact  that  here  the 
verb  baptizo  is  the  synonym  of  the  Hebrew 
word  tabal.     To  this  word  Gesenius  gives  as 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  only  meaning  the  words  "dip,"  "immerse." 
I  said,  If  the  word  means  dip,  immerse,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  it  means  the  same  in  the  New; 
for  in  both  the  word  is  used  in  its  religious 
sense,  not  merely  in  its  secular  sense,  but  in 
its  religious  sense;  and  in  this  it  means  "dip," 
"immerse."  Also  the  Septuagint  version  was 
the  version  Paul  evidently  used  in  his  reading 
of  the  Scriptures  to  Greeks  in  Corinth,  in 
Rome  and  in  all  Asia  Minor.  In  addressing 
a  writing  to  them  he  would  not  use  the  word 
in  a  different  sense  from  that  in  which  he 
read  it  in  the  Septuagint.  This  sense  was,  as 
shown  by  Stuart,  the  meaning  of  the  word  in 
its  classical  use,  which  did  not  differ  from  the 
use  of  it  by  the  common  people.  Also  let  it 
be  noted  that  to  make  a  revelation  to  the  peo- 
ple, Paul  had  to  use  words  in  the  sense  in 
which  they  were  understood  by  the  people. 
Confessedly  in  the  case  of  baptizo  this  was 
"dip,"  "immerse." 

I  then  passed  with  Stuart  on  to  his  consid- 
eration of  the  word  in  the  New  Testament.  I 
saw  he  accepted  "dip"  as  the  proper  render- 
ing of  Baflo  as  found  in  Luke  16:24.  In 
Mark  7 :  4  he  rendered  baptismous  by  the 
word,  washings — admissible  only  as  a  result- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  77 

ant  meaning; — not  a  proper  meaning  when 
the  word  is  used  to  designate  action;  and 
here  we  know  the  pots,  to  secure  the  result 
of  washing,  cleansing,  were  dipped.  (See 
Lev.  11:32,  Num.  31 :  23.)  He  further  added 
that  the  word  in  its  figurative  use,  as  in  Luke 
12:  50,  Mark  10:  39,  means  "overwhelm,  and 
is  so  used  in  the  classics." 

Stuart,  in  his  closing  consideration,  adds 
the  testimony  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  church, 
as  Pastor  of  Hermas,  Justin  Martyr  and  Ter- 
tullian;  the  latter  as  saying,  "There  is  no 
difference  of  consequence  between  those 
whom  John  immersed  in  the  Jordan  or  Peter 
in  the  Tiber";  and  then  sums  all  up  by  saying: 
"The  passages  which  refer  to  immersion  are 
so  numerous  in  the  fathers  that  it  would  take 
a  little  volume  merely  to  recite  them";  then 
closes  by  a  quotation  from  F.  Brenner,  a 
Catholic  writer  "of  learning  and  ability,"  as 
saying  that  for  thirteen  hundred  years  baptism 
was  "generally  and  ordinarily  performed  by 
the  immersion  of  a  man  under  water.  This 
concession,  said  Stuart,  is  the  more  important, 
from  the  fact  that  sprinkling  is  the  present 
practice  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church. 

After   these     concessions    on    the   part   of 


78  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Moses  Stuart,  I  took  up  my  Bible  and  turned 
to  Isa  52:  15;  the  text  so  often  quoted  in 
favor  of  sprinkling. 

In  our  version,  the  rendering  is:  "So  shall 
he  sprinkle  many  nations."  I  saw  from  the 
connection  that  the  passage  had  no  reference 
to  the  Gospel  ordinance,  and  that  the  word 
translated  sprinkle,  as  I  have  shown  in  my 
book  on  Christian  Baptism,  when  applied  to 
mind,  as  there  used,  cannot  mean  scatter  in 
particles,  but  refers  to  the  joys  of  salvation 
through  Christ,  as  there  referred  to.  Literally 
rendered,  it  reads,  "So  shall  he  cause  many  na- 
tions to  leap  for  joy."  The  context  demands 
such  a  rendering.  (See  Gesenius,  word,  JVaza,) 
I  then  turned  to  Ezek.  36:  25.  I  saw  that  this 
text  also  had  no  reference  to  the  ordinance  of 
baptism  under  the  Gospel  dispensation,  but  to 
the  moral  purification  of  the  Jews  when  they 
should  be  gathered  from  the  heathen  nations. 
Let  the  reader  study  the  connection.  The 
water  of  "separation"  or  of  purification  as 
designated  in  the  Hebrew  text  is  not  mayim 
kayhn,  pure  water,  but  mayim  tahorim,  water 
of  purification, — a  fluid  made  of  the  ashes  of 
a  red  heifer  and  pure  water.  Barnes,  in  his 
comment  on  this  passage,  says:     "The  prac- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  79 

tice  of  sprinkling  with  consecrated  water  is 
referred  to  as  synonymous  with  purifying," — 
moral  purification. 

The  sprinkling  of  the  water  of  "separation" 
was  a  part  of  the  process  of  ceremonial  cleans- 
ing; (see  Num.  19:  19) — here  used  figura- 
tively— "synonymous  with  purifying."  "From 
all  your  idols  will  I  cleanse  you," — you  Jews. 
There  is  here  no  reference  whatever  to  Chris- 
tian baptism.  In  my  personal  review,  I  passed 
to  the  New  Testament, — saw  that  John  bap- 
tized the  people,  not  •with  the  river  Jordan, 
but  in  the  river  Jordan  (Mark  1:5);  and  that 
our  Lord,  as  stated  in  the  ninth  verse,  was 
baptized — literally  "plunged  into  the  Jordan," 
— that  as  recorded  in  Acts  8:38,  39,  Philip 
and  the  eunuch  went  down  into  the  water  and 
Philip  baptized  him,  and  they  came  up  out  of 
the  water.  I  passed  to  Rom.  6:  3,  4,  where 
Paul  represented  believers  as  having  been 
baptized  into  death,  i.  e.,  into  the  relation  of 
dead  ones,  and  therefore  properly,  by  symbol, 
buried  with  Christ  by  baptism  into  this  rela- 
tion of  dead  ones — that  as  the  bread  and  wine 
set  forth  the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord,  so 
the  burial  and  resurrection  of  believers  in 
their  baptism  set  forth,  not  only  their  spiritual 


80  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

death  to  sin  and  resurrection  to  newness  of 
life,  but  also  the  burial  and  resurrection  of 
our  Lord. 

I  noticed  the  uniform  concessions  of  such 
authorities  as  Tholuck,  Lange,  Whitby,  Mac- 
knight,  Clarke  and  others  that  the  word  bap- 
tizo  means  immerse ;  that  Calvin  himself  said, 
"The  word  baptize  means  immerse  entirely; 
and  it  is  certain  that  the  custom  of  thus  en- 
tirely immersing  was  anciently  observed  in 
the  church";  but  he  then  assumes  the  papal 
dogma,  "that  the  church  has  reserved  to  her- 
self the  right  to  change  the  form  somewhat, 
retaining  the  substance."  I  saw,  what  is  true, 
that  no  man,  and  no  set  of  men,  have  a  right 
to  change  a  positive  command,  an  ordinance 
of  divine  appointment.  To  do  so  is  fearful 
sacrilege :  also  in  changing  the  form  of  a  sym- 
bol we  lose  the  truth  thus  symbolized.  This 
is  treachery;  though  good  men  and  women 
see  it  not.  I  saw  something  of  my  responsi- 
bility as  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel, — that  it 
behooved  me  to  get  all  the  light  I  could  on 
this  divinely  appointed  ordinance.  Dr.  Ed- 
ward Beecher  had  published  a  book  which, 
among  pedo-baptists,  was  held  in  high  repute. 
I  ordered  the  book   and    read    his  argument 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  81 

about  "purifying."  I  said,  His  mistake  is  that 
he  takes  the  import  of  the  rite  for  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word,  when  used  to  designate  the 
action  of  the  rite.  To  illustrate, — the  import 
of  the  rite  of  sprinkling  is  that  of  cleansing,  as 
"hearts  sprinkled,  cleansed,  from  an  evil  con- 
science." But  the  meaning  of  the  word  when 
used  to  designate  action  means  not  to  purify, 
but  to  scatter  in  particles;  so  the  word  bap- 
tize, when  used  to  designate  action,  means 
immerse — not  purify — which  is  the  import  of 
the  rite  itself. 

I  saw  many  preachers  do  as  Dr.  Edward 
Beecher,  baptize  their  fingers  in  water,  then 
sprinkle  a  few  drops  on  the  head  of  the  peni- 
tent (rhantize) ; — and  then  call  this  totally 
different  act  baptism;  saying,  "The  thing  to 
be  done  is  to  symbolize  purification."  I  said 
if  that  had  been  the  thing  commanded,  then 
the  penitent  might  have  been  "passed  through 
the  fire";  for  such  was  a  symbol  of  purifica- 
tion. But  God  commanded  a  specific  thing, 
"Go  baptize,  immerse";  and  the  connection 
shows  that  the  immersion  was  in  water;  and 
this  not  merely  for  the  purpose  of  symbolizing 
purification,  but  also  other  important  facts;  as 
our  own  spiritual  death  to  sin  and  resurrection 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

to  "newness  of  life,"  the  burial  and  resurrec- 
tion of  our  Lord  (Rom.  6:4),  and  our  own 
resurrection  (1  Cor.  15:  29.)  I  said, 
Sprinkling  cannot  emblematize  these  impor- 
tant facts. 

Other  good  men  say  the  word  means 
"wash";  and  accordingly  baptize  their  hands 
in  water  and  take  up  enough  to  effect  a  local 
washing  on  the  head;  then  assume  that  such 
a  transaction  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  com- 
mand, "Go  baptize  them," — the  person, — the 
entire  man. 

We  may  here  properly  notice  that  wash  is 
a  resultant  meaning;  as  wet  is  a  resultant 
meaning  of  sprinkle,  though  not  the  meaning 
of  the  word  when  used  to  designate  action. 
When  used  to  designate  action,  the  word 
sprinkle  means  scatter  in  particles.  So  wash 
is  not  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word  baptizo, 
when  used  to  designate  action.  Then  the 
word  as  applied  to  men  means  "dip,"  im- 
merse (see  2  Kings  5:  14).  The  word  here 
translated  dip,  immerse,  is  the  same  word 
which  our  Lord  used  when  he  said, "Go  disciple 
all  nations  \Baj)tizonites~\ — baptizing  them." 
And  if  the  word  in  2  Kings  5:14  means  im- 
merse, then  as  found  in  Matt.  28:19,  it  means 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  83 

immerse.  Also  if  immersion  is  baptism,  which 
all  admit  as  true,  then  a  totally  different  act, 
like  sprinkling  or  pouring,  is  not.  I  also  saw 
that  in  positive  commands  as  "eat,"  "drink," 
"circumcise,"  "baptize,"  we  must  have  specific 
words  indicating  specific  actions,  or  wre  would 
not  know  what  to  do — we  would  be  without  a 
revelation, — in  this  matter.  I  saw  that  this 
following  or  resultant  meaning  was  the  source 
of  much  of  the  confusion  among  the  sects. 

I  also  saw  some  were  following  the  tradi- 
tions and  opinions  of  men.  Others  were 
following  their  feelings, — considering  what 
would  be  most  pleasant  to  themselves. 
Others  were  following  their  own  reasoning  as 
to  what  would  be  sufficient.  I  said,  All  this 
is  going  in  the  "way  of  Cain":  and  cannot  be 
pleasing  to  God.  I  must  do  the  thing  he 
commands. 

I  told  my  wife  my  convictions, — that  I 
believed  our  Lord  was  immersed,  and  that 
his  commission  was  that  disciples  be  baptized, 
immersed,  in  his  name.  She  replied:  "I 
have  been  feeling  so  for  two  years."  We 
had  both  been  consecrated  to  the  Lord  b}- 
sprinkling — rhantism — but  not  by  baptism. 
By  this  time  "baptism"  by  sprinkling  was  to 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

me  as  much  a  solecism  as  immersion  by  as- 
persion. ''We  decided  to  live  up  to  our  convic- 
tions of  duty  and  be  baptized.  But  the  ques- 
tion arose,  whom  shall  we  ask  to  baptize  us? 
We  did  not  know  a  minister  in  the  State  who 
would  at  that  time  be  willing  to  baptize  us, 
nor  did  we  know  one,  with  his  practice  of, 
or  conservative  notions  about,  slavery  by 
whom  we  would  be  willing  to  be  baptized. 

Through  Wm.  Goodell  I  had  learned  some- 
thing of  the  history  of  Francis  Hawley,  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  and  who, whilst  there, 
maintained,  as  a  Baptist  minister,  a  strong  pro- 
test against  human  slavery,  and  was  at  that 
J;ime  ministering  to  undenominational  churches 
near  to  Syracuse,  New  York.  I  wrote  to 
him  and  requested  that  he  come  to  Kentucky 
and  baptize  me  and  my  wife.  He  came;  and 
near  to  our  little  cottage,  and  in  the  presence 
of  our  dear  children  and  a  large  concourse  of 
people,  he  buried  us  by  baptism  in  the  waters 
of  Cabin  Creek,  Lewis  Co.,  Ky. 

By  that  transaction  we  said  to  our  children 
and  to  our  neighbors,  we  believe  Christ  our 
Lord  was  buried,  that  he  rose  again,  and 
that  we  in  like  manner  will  rise  again  and 
walk  with  him  in  glorified  form. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  85 

As  opportunity  allowed,  I  studied  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism  still  more  fully.  I  saw 
clearly  that  the  ordinance  of  baptism  was 
designed  to  emblematize  great  facts  in  the 
Gospel;  like  the  burial  and  resurrection 
of  our  Lord,  which  sprinkling  could  not 
do, — that  the  truths  thus  set  forth  needed 
to  be  presented  in  a  brief  manner  to 
young  and  old.  Accordingly  I  prepared 
matter  for  a  small  book,  on  the  topic 
of  Christian  Baptism,  Action  and  Subjects, 
and  published  it. 

As  a  justification  for  this  form  of  labor 
let  me  say,  that  whilst  my  life  has  been  de- 
voted to  the  maintenance  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  Christianity,  love  to 
God  and  love  to  man;  and  whilst  I  insist 
upon  the  fact  that  the  inner,  the  spiritual  is 
the  vital  feature  of  Christianity,  I  do  not 
forget  that  the  external  rites  of  Christianitv 
are  important.  They  not  only  symbolize 
the  internal,  but  the  observance  of  them 
is  also  a  demonstration  to  the  outside 
world,     but    is    that  which   actualizes    to   the 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  have  baptized  all  of  my  children,  save 
Tappan,  who  died  when  in  his  third  year. 
I  baptized  my  eldest  son  Burritt,  when  he 
was  seven  years  old.  At  five  he  would  read 
the  Scriptures  and  pray  with  the  family.  He 
knew  what  trust  in  Christ  was  and  the  sym- 
bolic import  of  his  burial  in  baptism.  The 
four  other  children  I  baptized  on  profession 
of  their  faith  in  Christ;  with  this  coincidence: 
each  one  at  the  time  of  his  or  her  baptism 
was  between  the  years  of  ten  and  eleven. 
Early  in  life  children  may  be  trained, — trained 
to  love  and  serve  the  Lord. 

As  opportunity  allowed,  I  studied  the  subject 
of  baptism  still  more  fully.  I  saw  that  the  or- 
dinance of  baptism  was  designed  to  emblem- 
atize great  facts  in  the  Gospel,  like  the 
burial  and  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  which 
sprinkling  could  not  do ;  that  the  truths  thus 
set  forth  needed  to  be  presented  in  a  brief 
manner  to  young  and  old.  Accordingly  I  pre- 
pared matter  for  a  small  book,  on  the  subject 
of  Christian  Baptism, — Action  and  Subjects, 
and  published  the  book. 

I  never  sprinkle,  because  I  believe  our  Lord 
in  his  great  commission  commanded  me  to  do 
something  else, — baptize,  not  sprinkle.     I  say 


JOHN  a.  FEE.  87 

to  believers,  Study  God's  Word;  live  up  to 
your  convictions;  I  must  live  up  to  mine.  I 
recognize  the  fact  that  our  word  baptize  is 
not  a  translation,  but  simply  the  Greek  word 
transferred  with  an  English  termination 
affixed  and  must  therefore  be  interpreted  by 
the  reader  of  English.  True  believers  may 
differ  in  the  interpretation.  I  feel  that  as  a 
true  Protestant  and  Christian,  I  must  grant  to 
a  true  believer  the  right  of  "private  interpre- 
tation." I  therefore  fellowship  in  church 
relationship  those  who  manifest  true  faith  in 
Christ  as  their  Saviour  from  sin,  though  they 
may  make  a  mistake  in  the  action  they  design 
as  baptism.  The  mistake  in  the  act  of  con- 
secration does  not  destroy  Christian  character. 
Our  Lord  prayed  for  the  union  of  all  true 
believers  (John  17:21).  We  can  be  united  on 
Christ:  on  opinions  we  cannot.  We  may 
expect  that  with  human  creeds  and  sects  out 
of  the  way,  men  and  women,  delivered  from 
the  bias  of  party  teaching,  will,  in  the  light 
of  other  parallel  passages,  come  to  see  the 
truth  alike  in  reference  to  this  rite  of  divine 
appointment,  and  as  in  apostolic  times,  there 
will  yet  be  "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism"— not  that    several    different   acts    were 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

regarded  as  baptism,  but  that  to  Gentiles  as 
well  as  to  Jews,  one  and  the  same  rite  was 
applied;  and  that,  as  I  believe,  not  a  rhantism, 
but  a  baptism. 

Prior  to  my  baptism,  Mr.  C.  M.  Clay  had 
returned  from  Mexico  and  had  requested  that 
I  send  to  his  care  a  box  of  my  "Anti-slavery 
Manuals."  I  had  done  so.  He  distributed 
these  largely  in  this  part  of  Madison  County. 
Friends  of  freedom  here  had  united  in  a  re- 
quest that  I  visit  them  and  preach  to  them.  I 
did  so  early  in  the  spring  of  1853.  After  I 
had  preached  to  the  people  some  nine  sermons, 
thirteen  persons  came  out  as  professed 
followers  of  Christ.  Most  of  these  had  been 
baptized  and  came  from  their  former  slave- 
holding  fellowships.  The  others  were  bap- 
tized, and  all  united  as  a  church  and  for  a 
time  worshiped  in  the  old  Glade  meeting 
house.  After  some  days,  I  left  the  little  flock 
and  returned  to  my    home  in   Lewis  County. 

In  the  new  church  was  a  brother  who,  in 
capacity  to  speak,  was  an  Apollos.  The 
church  invited  him  to  preach  to  them.  After 
some  months,  brethren  in  the  church  wrote 
that  their  pastor  was  not  doing  well,  and  en- 
treated that  I  come  to  their  help  or  the  church 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  89 

would  be  scattered,  lost.  I  saw  that  if  this 
church,  planted  as  it  was  in  the  interior  of  the 
State  and  avowedly  on  the  principle  that 
Christ  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  and  is  not 
the  minister  of  sin  in  any  form,  should  now  be 
allowed  to  fail,  such  failure  would  be  a 
calamity.  I  said  to  my  wife,  For  us  now  to 
leave  these  churches  on  the  border  of  the 
State,  just  at  the  time  when  they  are  spring- 
ing up  into  a  measure  of  prosperity  and 
efficiency, — to  sell  out  our  small  effects,  take 
our  little  ones  and  go  140  miles  into  the  in- 
terior and  into  a  place  comparatively  a  wilder- 
ness, without  schools,  railroads,  or  even  turn- 
pikes, will  be  a  privation,  to  say  the  least.  But 
I  said,  My  mission  is  to  preach  the  gospel  of 
love  in  Kentucky.  To  go  to  the  interior  would 
enlarge  my  sphere  of  labor,  and  apparently 
increase  my  power  at  home  and  abroad.  I 
said,  I  have  no  right  to  please  myself  at  the 
expense  of  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
My  wife  said,  "If  you  feel  that  it  is  duty  so  to 
do,  we  will  go,  and  leave  the  future  with 
God." 

Just  at  this  time  a  Bro.  J.  S.  Davis,  a  native 
of  Virginia,  a  graduate  from  Galesburg,  111., 
afterward     from    the     theological    school    at 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Oberlin,  Ohio,  expressed  a  desire  to  enter 
into  the  work  in  Kentucky.  The  churches 
on  the  border  accepted  his  labors,  and  thus 
the  way  was  made  clear  for  me  to  go  into 
the  interior. 

I  sent  forward  an  appointment,  and  then 
took  my  horse  and  rode  to  the  interior  and 
engaged  in  preaching  for  a  few  days.  Mr.  C. 
M.  Clay  had  bought  a  tract  of  land  containing 
some  600  acres;  the  tract  included  most  of 
the  ground  on  which  the  village  of  Berea 
now  stands.  Mr.  Clay  was  very  desirous  that 
the  church  should  be  sustained,  and  offered  to 
give  to  me  a  farm  out  of  the  600  acres  if  I 
would  come  and  become  the  settled  pastor.  I 
never  made  a  bargain  with  any  man  or  people 
to  come  for  a  price,  but  always  decided  first 
where  duty  called  and  then  took  what,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  should  come.  So  I  did 
in  this  case.  During  the  meeting,  our  mutual 
friend,  H.  Rawlings,  came  to  me  and  said: 
"Clay  wants  you  to  go  and  select  a  farm  as  a 
home."  Though  I  had  decided  in  my  own 
mind  I  would  come,  and  would  need  a  place 
as  a  home,  yet  I  said  to  Rawlings,  "I  will  not 
go  and  select,  for  in  so  doing  I  may  spoil  the 
sale  of  a  lot   for    Mr.    Clay;    and  especially  I 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  91 

will  not  divert  my  mind  with  anything  until 
this  meeting  is  over."  Rawlings  said:  "The 
surveyor  is  here."  I  said,  "Then  you  go  and 
mark  me  off  a  spot."  He  and  Bro.  W.  B. 
Wright  came  to  the  extreme  corner  of  the 
6oo-acre  tract  and  surveyed  off  for  me  ten 
acres  of  land'. 

When  the  meeting  had  ended,  I  took  my 
horse  and  rode  to  the  place  selected,  the 
selection  of  which  I  had  left  to  the  guidance 
of  providence,  rather  than  leave  what  I  then 
thought  to  be  the  post  of  duty.  When  I  came 
to  the  place  I  found  about  one  acre  of  hillside, 
half  cleared,  and  the  rest  of  the  land  covered 
with  a  dense  undergrowth  of  "blackjacks" 
and  a  frog  pond  in  the  midst.  A  human  hab- 
itation could  not  be  seen  from  the  place.  I 
got  on  my  horse  and  rode  back  to  the  place 
where  Mr.  Clay  then  was  and  said  to  him, 
"The  lot  selected  by  our  friends  is  a  dreary 
spot  to  which  to  bring  a  family,  and  is  more 
than  a  mile  from  the  place  where  wre  propose 
to  build  a  church  house."  Mr.  Clay  quickly 
asked,  "Is  there  any  other  spot  to  you  more 
desirable?"  I  said,  "The  Maupin  House  is 
near  to  the  site  for  the  proposed  church 
house,  and  more  desirable." 


92  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

He  replied :  "I  have  just  sold  that  to  Dave 
Kinnard";  and  standing  there  as  he  was  by 
Kinnard's  shop,  he  cried  out:  "Dave,  come 
out  here;  what  will  you  take  for  your  house 
and  lot  I  sold  to  you?" 

Kinnard  asked,  "What  do  you  want  it  for?" 
Mr.  Clay  replied,  "For  the  preacher."  Said 
Kinnard,  "He  may  have  it."  I  knew  Kin- 
nard was  a  "trading"  man,  and  whether  he 
designed  the  property  as  a  home  or  for  spec- 
ulation, I  knew  not.  I  said  to  him,  "Come 
aside";  and  then  asked,  "Why  did  you  buy 
that  piece  of  property?"  He  had  another 
property  alongside  of  it.  He  replied,  "It  is 
my  'rosy'.  "  I  saw  in  a  moment  that  to  take 
the  house  and  lot  would  be  to  covet  my  neigh- 
bor's property.  I  said  at  once,  "I  will  not 
take  it."  I  rode  back  to  the  selected  spot. 
There  I  found  the  two  friends,  H.  Rawlings 
and  W.  Stapp,  sitting  each  on  an  old  fallen 
tree.  I  said,  "This  is  a  dreary  spot  to  which 
to  bring  a  family."  All  was  silence  for  a 
moment.  Rawlings,  who  was  not  a  Chris- 
tian, then  broke  the  silence  by  quoting  the 
familiar  couplet: 

"Prisons  would  palaces  prove, 
If  Jesus  would  dwell  with  me  there." 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  93 

I  said  to  Stanton  Thompson,  who  had  that 
moment  come  up,  seeking  employment,  "Take 
your  axe  and  drive  a  stake  by  that  little  hick- 
ory, and  we  will  build  a  house  there." 

Looking  around  for  a  moment  I  saw,  what 
I  had  not  previously  noticed,  the  absence  of 
water,  and  Said,  "There  is  no  water  here  for 
man  or  beast."  Silence  again  for  a  moment, 
when  Rawlings  gravely  replied,  "Moses  smote 
the  rock  and  the  waters  gushed  out."  I  said 
to  Thompson,  "Dig  a  well  beside  that  dog- 
wood tree."  He  did, — found  water, — and  the 
well  has  never  been  dry. 


94  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  V. 

Removal  to  Madison  County. — Projected  College. — Its 
Foundation  Principles. — Survey  of  Fields. — Mob  at 
Dripping  Springs. — Mob  in  Rockcastle  County. — 
Fourth  of  July.— C.  M.  Clay  and  I  differ.— Mob  in 
Rockcastle  County. — Mob  in  Madison  County. — Dark 
Days  at  Berea. — Entreaty  to  Leave. — Decision  to 
Hold  On. — Trusts. 

I  returned  to  my  family  then  in  Lewis 
County.  After  a  short  time,  I  gathered  our 
household  goods  into  a  two-horse  wagon,  and 
my  wife,  two  children  and  I,  in  a  one-horse 
carriage,  started  for  the  new  home,  one  hundred 
and  forty  miles  in  the  interior.  There  was  no 
railroad  to  Berea  at  that  time.  In  the  evening 
of  the  third  day  we  camped  in  the  new  house, 
then  without  a  chimney,  or  glass  in  the  win- 
dows, or  fence  around  the  yard.  Believing, 
as  we  did,  that  we  were  exactly  where  the 
Lord  would  have  us,  we  lay  down  and  slept 
calmly,  sweetly. 

After  a  few  days,  with  chimney  up,  glass 
in  the  windows,  and  yard  enclosed,  we  began 
to  plan  for  a  school-house,  and  a  place  for 
preaching    up    on   the    ridge.     Lumber    was 


JOHN  O.  FEE.  95 

secured  and  the  eastern  part  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  "old  District  School-house"  was 
constructed. 

About  this  time  Bro.  George  Candee  came; 
and  whilst  he  and  I  were  chopping  wood, 
then  piled  up  in  my  yard,  we  talked  up  the 
idea  of  a  more  extended  school — a  college — 
in  which  to  educate  not  merely  in  a  knowledge 
of  the  sciences,  60  called,  but  also  in  the 
principles  of  love  in  religion,  and  liberty  and 
justice  in  government;  and  thus  permeate  the 
minds  of  the  youth  with  these  sentiments. 

With  a  purpose  to  survey  the  field  and  look 
out  the  best  location,  we  took  our  horses  and 
rode  out  into  Rockcastle  County,  and  visited  a 
community  in  which  I  had  preached  a  few 
discourses  during  the  preceding  year.  We 
thought  we  had  there  found  the  place,  and 
unfolded  our  plans  to  a  friend.  He  entered 
with  commendable  zeal  into  the  plan  and  was 
ready  to  deed  lands  for  the  enterprise. 

As  a  preparatory  step  we  induced  friends 
to  help  in  the  erection  of  a  house  as  a  place  for 
the  school,  and  for  public  worship.  The 
building  was  speedily  enclosed,  a  few  ser- 
mons preached,  and  Otis  B.  Waters,  a  stu- 
dent from   Oberlin,  Ohio,   was   introduced  as 


96  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

teacher  of  the  school.  Soon  some  enemy  of 
the  movement  reduced  the  building  to  ashes. 

Friends  there  were  intimidated  and  wholly 
unwilling  to  make  any  other  effort  at  building. 
I  kept  up  a  monthly  appointment  in  the  com- 
munity, in  groves  and  private  houses. 

Brother  Candee  went  into  Pulaski  County 
and  started  a  school  there.  Speedily  the 
house  there  was  burned.  From  thence  he 
went  to  McKee,  the  county  seat  of  Jackson 
County.  I  kept  headquarters  at  Berea,«with 
regular  appointments  there,  and  in  three  other 
adjoining  counties. 

A  Bro.  Richardson,  a  man  of  excellent 
spirit,  came.  He  went  on  to  Williamsburg, 
the  county  seat  of  Whitley  County,  where 
Bro.  Myers  has  successfully  labored.  Bro. 
Richardson  there  began  a  school,  but  soon 
felt  the  unfriendly  embrace  of  a  mob  and  left. 

One  of  my  appointments  for  regular  preach- 
ing, at  this  time,  was  at  Dripping  Springs,  in 
Garrard  County,  near  to  Crab  Orchard.  The 
slave  power  was,  as  ever,  vigilant — called  a 
meeting  of  citizens  at  Crab  Orchard,  and  a 
venerable  minister  of  the  Gospel  (?)  presided 
over  their  deliberations.  They  gravely  re- 
solved that  I  should  not  further  preach  nor 
distribute  Abolition  documents  in  that  county. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  97 

On  coming  to  my  next  appointment,  I 
found,  as  I  had  been  told  I  would,  a  crowd 
not  very  benignant  in  looks.  I  went  into  the 
house  with  friendly  salutations  for  all,  and 
with  quiet  purpose  to  meet  faithfully  whatever 
providence  might  reveal.       I    was    informed 

that  there   was,  in  the    hands  of  Dr.  ,  a 

batch  of  resolutions  I  would  be  requested  to 
hear.  I  expressed  a  readiness  to  listen.  At 
the# close  of  the  reading  the  demand  was  that 
my  reply  be  yes  or  no.  I  said,  "I  have  given 
to  you  a  quiet,  respectful  hearing,  and  have  a 
right  to  the  same  from  you";  and  without 
pause  for  them  to  accumulate  wrath  replied 
to  each  resolution — six  in  number. 

In  my  reply  I  said:  "I  am  a  citizen,  a  native 
of  the  State;  my  interests  are  your  interests; 
your  interests  are  my  interests;  and  as  a  serv- 
ant of  the  living  God,  and  deprecating,  as  I 
do,  the  institution  of  slavery  in  all  its  forms, 
I  cannot  pledge  to  you  that  I  will  not  preach 
in  this  county  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  truth 
of  God,  or  refrain  from  scattering  abroad 
tracts  and  other  publications  containing  senti- 
ments of  justice  and  liberty."  A  significant 
pause  ensued.  The  crowd  sought,  through  a 
"go-between,"  to  pile  up  the  sad  consequences 


08  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

that  might  follow  if  I  did  not  then  quietly 
withdraw.  I  replied,  "You  all  know  I  am  not 
a  man  of  violence, — I  carry  no  weapons  of 
defense.  If  any  person  is  hurt,  the  guilt  and 
responsibility  will  be  on  those  who  do  the 
'hurting.' "  After  much  counciling  and 
hesitancy,  one  swore  he  could  move  me; 
another  swore  he  could — and  another--and 
the  three  clamped  me;  and  with  the  crowd 
pressing  they  soon  hustled  me  from  the  house. 
As  they  were  passing  with  me  out  of  the  yard, 
I  laid  hold  of  a  bar-post,  deciding  as  I  did,  in 
my  mind,  that  if  they  got  me  away  it  should 
be  a  case  of  "assault  and  battery."  This  they 
soon  made,  by  breaking  my  hold.  They 
took  me  to  my  horse,  which  they  had  brought 
from  the  stable,  and  asked  me  to  get  on.  I 
declined,  saying:  "I  can  not,  with  any  degree 
of  propriety,  comply  with  demands  so  un- 
reasonable, unjust  and  illegal."  They  then 
put  me  on  my  horse  and  asked  me  to  ride;  I 
declined.  They  then  led  and  drove,  and  thus 
escorted  me  one  or  two  miles  on  my  way 
home. 

I  made  my  appeal,  as  I  had  done  in  similar 
cases  before,  to  the  Civil  Court.  I  got  no 
redress.     When  my  friend  Rawlings  enquired 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  99 

of  the  foreman  of  the  Grand  Jury  why  they 
did  not  bring  in  a  true  bill  against  the  mob, 
the  foreman  replied,  "The  proof  was  clear, 
but  we  could  not  do  any  thing." 

Other  trials,  by  which  to  sift  friends,  and 
indicate  the  place  for  the  proposed  college 
and  continued  church,  seemed  to  be  necessary. 

Soon  after  the  mobbing  at  Dripping  Springs, 
Garrard  County,  I  went  again  eighteen  miles 
distant,  to  my  regular  monthly  appointment 
in  Rockcastle  Count}-.  My  wife  taking  her 
babe  in  her  arms,  leaving  our  other  little 
ones  at  home  with  a  good  friend,  went  with 
me.  When  we  arrived,  we  found  an  orderly 
congregation  of  people,  and  larger  than  we 
had  expected,  assembled  in  the  grove,  accord- 
ing to  previous  arrangement. 

Soon  after  I  had  commenced  preaching,  a 
band  of  men,  about  thirty  in  number,  rode  up, 
dismounted  and  posted  themselves  outside 
the  congregation.  Soon  it  was  manifest  that 
they  were  in  doubt  as  to  what  was  the  better 
course  to  pursue.  Unobserved  by  me,  and 
without  any  previous  knowledge  of  his  intent, 
there  stood  behind  me  a  strong,  robust  man; 
and,  though  it  was  now  early  summer,  he  had 
on  a  large   overcoat,  with  large  side  pockets, 


100  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

evidently  not  empty.  Under  his  overcoat,  as 
I  was  afterward  informed,  there  was  seen  the 
handle  of  a  huge  knife,  evidently  not  made 
by  Wostenholm  &  Sons.  This  man  (Roberts) 
said  not  a  word,  nor  moved  a  step.  His 
known  s}anpathy  with  liberty  and  free  speech, 
bespoke  to  others  his  silent  purpose.  I 
followed  the  plan  of  my  sermon,  concluded, 
and  knelt  down,  with  many  others,  and  called 
on  a  brother  to  lead  in  prayer — he  was  silent. 
I  then  called  on  a  venerable  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  usually  fervent  in  prayer,  and  he,  too, 
remained  silent.  I  prayed,  and  then,  after 
further  conversation  with  some  three  persons 
who  had  confessed  sorrow  for  sin  and  trust 
in  Jesus,  we  went  with  the  congregation  to  a 
stream  of  water  near  by,  and  there,  upon  the 
repeated  profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ,  I 
baptized  the  three,  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
Son,  and  Holy  Spirit. 

Soon  after  the  baptism  and  before  we  left 
the  ground,  nry  wife,  other  friends  and  myself, 
were  warned  not  to  return — that  if  we  did, 
we  would  certainly  meet  a  large  force,  and  I 
not  be  allowed  to  speak.  I  replied,  "The 
Lord  willing,  I  will  meet  my  appointment." 
My  wife  told  them  that,  if  living,  I  would 
come. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  101 

In  the  meantime,  I  went  in  person  to  see 
two  civil  officers — justices  of  the  peace. 
They  were  personal  friends.  Each  promised 
to  attend  the  next  meeting  and  demand  order 
in  the  name  of  the  Commonwealth. 

I  sought  at  all  times  to  secure  to  myself 
and  to  others  protection  of  person  and  liberty 
of  speech,  by  appeal,  not  to  arms,  but  to  civil 
magistrates  and  to  civil  courts.  This  was,  as 
I  believed,  not  only  wise  policy,  but  religious 
duty.  Civil  authority  is  from  God.  "The 
powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  Rom. 
13:1.  Parental  authority  is  of  God.  It  may 
be,  and  often  is,  abused.  So  may  civil  author- 
ity; still  it  is  right  to  recognize  and  honor  the 
civil  authority;  thus  educate  public  sentiment 
to  a  right  course,  and  secure  in  this  way  the 
only  substantial  peace. 

My  appeals  to  the  magistrates  referred  to, 
though  they  were  personally  friendly,  were 
of  no  avail. 

Between  the  meeting  referred  to  and  my 
next  appointment  in  Rockcastle  County,  there 
came  a  severe  crisis  in  the  history  of  the  work 
at  Berea  and  the  region  roundabout. 

A  short  time  previous  in  that  year,  1856, 
Hon.  C.  M.  Clay  had  proposed  a  Republican 


102  A  UTOBIOGEAPHY  OF 

ticket  for  Kentucky;  a  convention  in  which  it 
might  be  adopted  and  sent  forth.  In  his  in- 
troductory speech  he  said:  "The  National 
Government  has  nothing  more  to  do  with 
slavery  than  with  concubinage  in  Turkey."  I, 
in  reply,  said,  "The  National  Government  is 
responsible  for  the  strength  and  perpetuity  of 
slavery  and  this  by  the  enactment  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law." 

The  Fourth  of  July  was  near  at  hand.  We 
had  previously,  on  this  national  birthday, 
celebrated  liberty  prospectively — Mr.  Clay 
leading  and  I  following. 

The  place  for  the  celebration  had,  by  pre- 
vious arrangements,  been  fixed  at  Slate  Lick 
Springs,  Madison  County.  The  day  came, 
and  hundreds  of  people  gathered.  Mr.  Clay 
and  I  were  on  hand,  and  when  the  hour  for 
adclressescame,  Mr.  Clay  said  that  I  must 
speak  first.  I  declined.  He  insisted.  I 
thought  I  saw  his  policy — have  me  utter  my 
radical  sentiments,   and  he  then   review  me. 

I  decided,  in  my  own  mind,  to  meet  the 
issue  squarely;  and  rising  with  a  copy  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  in  my  hand,  I 
repeated  the  words,  "  'All  men  are  created 
free  and  equal,'  and  'endowed  by  their  Creator 


JOHN  O.  FEE.  103 

with  certain  inalienable  rights.'  '  I  said,  "If 
inalienable,  then  such  are  man's  relations  to 
God,  to  himself  and  family,  that  he  cannot 
alienate;  society  cannot;  governments  cannot 
alienate.  'Endowed  by  their  Creator,'  if  so, 
then  it  is  impious  in  us  to  attempt  to  take 
away."  I  added,  "This  invasion  of  human 
rights  is  condemned  by  the  highest  judicial 
authorities";  and  I  quoted  from  Blackstone, 
Judge  McLean,  and  others.  Then  I  said, 
"What  is  stronger  than  all,  the  Word  of  God 
forbids  it,"  and  quoted  various  passages.  I 
further  said,  "That  which  thus  outrages  nat- 
ural right  and  divine  teaching  is  mere  usurpa- 
tion, and,  correctly  speaking,  is  incapable  of 
legalization."  I  then  showed  that  under  the 
Mansfield  decision  there  was  no  legal  slavery 
in  any  of  the  British  colonies — that  when 
the  American  colonies  became  States  of 
this  Union,  they  did  not  attempt  to  legalize 
slavery — it  exists  only  by  usurpation.  I  then 
concluded  by  saying,  "A  law  confessedly 
contrary  to  the  law  of  God  ought  not  by 
human  courts  to  be  enforced";  and  referred 
to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  and  said  that  I 
would  refuse  to  obey;  then  suffer  the  penalty. 
Mr.  Clay  followed,  and  after  expressions  of 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

high  personal  regard  for  me,  in  many  respects, 
he  said  to  others,  "As  my  political  friends,  I 
warn  you;  Mr.  Fee's  position  is  revolutionary, 
insurrectionary  and  dangerous."  He  con- 
tinued by  saying,  "As  long  as  a  law  is  on  the 
statute  book,  it  is  to  be  respected  and  obeyed 
until  repealed  by  the  republican  majority." 
He  elaborated  his  position.  When  he  came 
to  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  he  said,  "So  far  as 
this  is  concerned,  I  would  not  obey  it  myself; 
it  is  contrary  to  natural  right,  and  I  would 
not  degrade  my  nature  by  obeying  it,"--- 
a  manly,  noble  utterance.  I  seized  the  con- 
cession and  the  opportunity  and  in  my  reply 
said,  "My  friend,  Mr.  Clay,  has  conceded  the 
whole  point  at  issue — that  there  is  a  Higher 
Law."  He,  now  seated  in  the  midst  of  the 
congregation,  cried  out,  "The  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  is  unconstitutional."  Yet  it  was  on  the 
statute  book  and  unrepealed  by  the  republican 
majority;  and  to  be  logically  in  harmony  with 
his  previous  premises,  he  would  be  under 
obligation  to  enforce  and  carry  it  out.  There 
was  manifest  confusion  in  the  crowd.  A 
slaveholder  standing  by  W.  B.  Waight  said, 
"Fee  has  got  him."  The  slaveholder  was 
sorry  that  it  was  so.     I    refer  to    this    simply 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  105 

to  show  that  even  slaveholders  saw  the 
absolute  right;  but,  with  many  others,  were 
unwilling    to    stand  up   for    the    right. 

The  provisions  in  the  baskets  were  spread, 
but  eaten  without  exhilaration.  The  friends  of 
slavery  were  not  pleased,  and  the  friends  of 
freedom  were  divided.  Some  went  away 
saying,  "Fee  is  religiously  right;  Clay  is 
politically  right." 

Many  whose  consciences  were  in  favor  of 
freedom,  but  who  had  not  yet  counted  all  but 
loss  for  Christ  in  the  person  of  his  poor,  fell 
back,  one  by  one. 

Mr.  Clay  himself  came  not  to  my  house  for 
thirteen  months;  and  when  the  time  came 'for 
me  to  go  back  to  my  next  appointment  in 
Rockcastle  County,  not  only  were  the 
magistrates,  alluded  to  previously,  secure  at 
home,  but  many  others  also  remained.  The 
prospect  for  a  college,  a  living  church,  life 
itself,  was  waning.  The  "narrow  way"  still 
existed. 

Soon  after  the  celebration  at  Slate  Lick, 
the  time  for  my  next  appointment  in  Rock- 
castle County  came.  That  the  now  drooping 
spirits  of  remaining  friends  might  be  cheered 
by  my  personal  presence,  and  that  all  things 


106  A  UTOBIOGBAPHY  OF 

might  be  in  readiness  for  worship  on  Lord's 
Day,  I  mounted  my  horse  the  day  previous, 
and  rode  out,  some  eighteen  miles,  to  the 
place  appointed  for  preaching.  On  my  way 
I  called  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  magistrates 
previously  referred  to.  He  could  not  be 
found.  I  then  rode  on  to  the  house  of  the 
man  who  had  been  apparently  most  interested 
in  our  work.  I  saw  in  a  moment  that  he,  too, 
was  utterly  discouraged — no  spirit  in  him — 
afraid  to  go  to  the  place  appointed  for  preach- 
ing, though  on  his  own  premises.  He  was 
willing  to  shelter  me  for  the  night, — but  that 
was  all. 

The  next  morning  the  heavens  themselves 
were  overcast  with  clouds;  and  about  the 
time  for  the  gathering  of  the  people,  the  rain 
commenced  descending.  The  house  pro- 
vided for  the  expected  congregation  was 
small  and  soon  filled,  almost  exclusively  with 
women.  The  arbor,  constructed  as  a  shade 
for  men,  in  front  of  the  house,  would  not 
shield  them  from  the  falling  rain.  They  dis- 
persed to  neighboring  houses.  This  was  the 
opportunity  for  the  mob  foretold  at  the  time 
of  the  previous  appointment. 

As  I  was  afterward  informed,  the  mob  was 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  107 

at  this  time  lying  in  ambush,  waiting  to  see  if 
Mr.  Clay  and  his  personal  friends  would  be 
present.  They  knew  that  immediately  after 
the  mob  at  Dripping  Springs  Mr.  Clay  had 
said,  "Free  speech  shall  be  maintained,  and 
Fee  shall  be  heard";  and  strong  demonstra- 
tions for  the  maintenance  of  such  had  been 
made;  but  these  men  also  knew  that  since 
that  time  Mr.  Clay,  as  at  the  celebration  at 
Slate  Lick,  had  expressed  disapproval  of  my 
radical  sentiments  in  regard  to  the  Higher 
Law.  They  were  now  waiting  to  see  if 
Mr.  Clay's  difference  of  sentiment  would 
neutralize  his  zeal  for  free  speech,  and 
cause  his  absence  on  this  occasion.  Find- 
ing him  not  present,  and  no  armed  forces 
ready  to  defend  me,  some  forty  or  fifty  men 
quickly  surrounded  the  house  in  which  I  was 
preaching;  and  a  portion  of  them,  with  show 
of  previously-concealed  weapons,  rushed  into 
the  house,  and  with  violence  pulled  me  out  of 
it,  tearing  my  coat,  and  one  man  struck  me  a 
violent  blow,  but  without  inflicting  lasting 
injury. 

The  mob  had  taken  the  precaution  to  have 
my  horse  in  readiness,  and  demanded  that  I 
mount  and    be  ready  to  march.     I  saw  that 


108  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

this,  under  existing  circumstances,  was  pro- 
bably the  best  thing  to  do. 

The  leader  of  the  mob  said  to  me,  "We 
■will  now  take  you  out  of  this  county;  and  if 
you  return  again  it  will  be  at  the  peril  of  your 
life."  I  calmly  replied,  "I  am  in  your  hands, 
but  I  will  make  no  pledges  to  men,  for  the 
present  or  the  future."  The  crowd  started 
with  me  for  Crab  Orchard,  nine  miles  distant. 

The  men  having  me  in  charge  were  not 
silent.  Like  all  others  conscious  of  guilt, 
they  sought  to  justify  themselves  by  criminat- 
ing others.  I  was  neither  sullen  nor  silent. 
I  vindicated  my  right  as  a  native  citizen,  and 
as  a  Christian  minister,  to  speak  as  occasion, 
offered,  and  appealed  to  their  own  sense  of 
honor  and  of  right.  One  by  one  of  the 
number  dropped  out  of  the  crowd. 

We  had  not  proceeded  many  miles  until 
suddenly  there  descended  upon  us  a  drenching 
rain;— like  the  dew  on  Nebuchadnezzar:  as 
described  by  Milton,  it  "dipped  us  all  over." 
By  common  consent  we  all  took  shelter  in  a 
farm  house  near  to  the  roadside.  The  "man 
of  the  house"  had  a  kind  look  and  a  pleasant 
manner.  Seeing  a  large  Bible  on  a  small 
table,  I  said  to  him,  "We  can  not  travel  whilst 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  109 

the  rain  is  falling  so  heavily,  and  if  you  are 
willing  we  will  read  a  portion  of  Scripture 
and  pray."  He  assented  pleasantly,  and  I 
turned  to  the  fifty-eighth  chapter  of  Isaiah, 
and  read,  "Cry  aloud,  spare  not,  lift  up  thy 
voice  like  a  trumpet,  *  *  *  Is  not  this  the  fast 
that  I  have  chosen?  to  loose  the  bands  of 
wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and 
to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break 
every  yoke?  *  *  Then  shalt  thou  call  and  the 
Lord  shall  answer"; — and  so  to  the  end  of 
that  chapter,  so  full  of  instruction  and  precious 
promise.  I  knelt  down  and  prayed.  Soon 
the  rain  ceased.  We  all  mounted  our  horses; 
but  seven  of  the  number  turned  back.  Nine 
persevered  in  their  purpose  to  take  me  out 
of  the  county,  and  brought  me  to  Crab 
Orchard,  where,  much  to  my  comfort,  I  saw 
no  crowd  of  hostile  men  waiting  to  receive 
me,  as  was  expected. 

The  mission  of  the  nine  to  take  me  out  of 
the  county  was  now  ended;  but  feeling  that 
they  must  say  something  they  asked  me  if  I 
would  "take  something  to  drink," — they 
meant  whisky. 

These  men,  as  their  manner  indicated, 
doubtless  thought  they  were  acting  magnani- 

8 


110  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

mously  to  offer  a  "treat" — even  to  an  Aboli- 
tionist. I,  in  a  quiet  manner,  replied,  "I  drink 
nothing  stronger  than  cold  water;  and  if  you 
will  give  me  a  cup  of  that  I  shall  be  much 
obliged."  This  they  quickly  brought  to  me, 
and  after  drinking  it,  I  bade  them  good  even- 
ing and  started  toward  my  home. 

It  was  now  near  sunset.  I  rode  on  some 
two  or  three  miles,  and  coming  to  the  small 
log-house  of  a  poor  man,  I  asked  the  privilege 
of  spending  with  him  the  night.  This  he 
kindly  granted.  Early  the  next  morning  I 
was  again  on  my  horse,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
was  in  the  well  known  road  leading  from 
Dripping  Springs  to  Berea. 

During  the  night  a  friend,  James  Waters, 
came  across  the  country,  and  came  to  my 
house  exactly  as  the  clock  was  striking  twelve. 
My  wife  recognized  his  voice  and  said,  "Mr 
Fee  is  taken";  for  all  night  long  she  seemed 
to  have  had  an  apprehension  of  my  condition. 
Waters,  after  some  minutes  of  delay,  said, 
with  a  tremulous  voice,  "He  is  in  the  hands 
of  a  violent  mob,  and  where  they  have  gone 
with  him  God  only  knows." 

Our  dear  Burritt,  now  gone  before  us,  then 
a  boy  seven  years  old,  said,  "Mother,  we  can 


JOHN  G,  FEE.  Ill 

all  pray  for  Pa."  The  mother  and  children, 
with  Miss  Tucker,  a  lady  friend  from  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  all  knelt  down  and  offered  earnest 
prayer. 

Soon,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Wright,  the  wife  of  our 
nearest  neighbor,  was  at  the  door  of  our  house, 
and  promptly  offered  to  go  with  my  wife  in 
search  of  me;  and  by  dawn  of  day,  twenty-two 
men  were  ready  to  go  with  the  women. 

Waters,  who  knew  the  character  of  the 
men  who  had  seized  me,  had  expressed  the 
belief  that  I  would  not  be  found  alive. 

In  less  than  three  hours  the  company  was 
near  to  the  place  where  I  had  been  last  seen 
in  the  hands  of  the  mob.  Just  at  this  moment 
a  friend  rode  up  and  informed  them  that  I 
had  been  seen  that  morning  riding  quietly 
toward  my  home.  All  quickly  retraced  their 
steps,  and  soon  found  me  quite  happy  with  the 
little  ones,  who  had  been  left  in  the  care  of 
Miss  Tucker.  Thus  ended  another  episode 
in  the  history  of  Berea  and  its  work. 

It  was  now  manifest  that  the  place  for  the 
contemplated  college  was  not  in  Rockcastle 
County;  at  least  in  that  part  of  it.  The  women 
of  true  faith  in  God  were  few  there;  and  the 
men    of   courage  were  still   less  in    number. 


112  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Providence  seemed  to  say,  fall  back  on  Berea; 
and  though  there  were  then  few  in  Berea 
with  depth  of  piety,  there  were  others  who 
had  physical  courage,  and  who  believed  that 
free  speech  is  right  and  had  determined  it 
should  be  maintained.  Thus  "the  earth  helped 
the  woman" — for  a  time. 

Other  trials  were  in  reserve,  by  which  to 
test  the  faith  and  patience  of  the  church  and 
people  at  Berea.  In  the  years  1857-8  I  had 
appointments  for  preaching  at  Lewis  Chapel 
in  this  county,  in  the  region  known  as  Big 
Bend  of  Kentucky  River.  In  this  region 
Bro.  Robert  Jones  had  also  traveled  as  a 
colporter,  selling  the  publications  of  the 
American  Tract  Society,  and  also  distribut- 
ing anti-slavery  documents, — tracts  written 
by  myself  and  others. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1858,  I  went  to 
the  house  of  a  Mr-  Fields,  an  excellent  man,  a 
substantial  farmer;  and  on  Friday  evening 
preached  at  his  house. 

I  had  been  warned  not  to  come  again  into 
that  region ;  but  my  covenant  was  upon  me  to 
preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  this  my  native 
State — a  gospel  that  is  not  the  minister  of  sin; 
— and  there  was  thus  far  an  open  door,  and  I 


Mrs.  Matilda  H.  Fee. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  113 

felt,  as  ofttimes  before,  "woe  is  me  if  I  preach 
not  this  Gospel";  and  that  I  had  no  right  to 
"count  my  life  dear  unto  myself." 

Saturday  morning  was  one  of  comparative 
comfort  for  that  month  of  the  year.  After 
breakfast  I  retired  to  an  adjacent  forest  for 
prayer  and  reflection.  On  returning  to  the 
house,  Mr.  Fields  said  to  me,  "Mr.  C -,  ex- 
member  of  the  Legislature,  has  been  here, 
and  advises  me  not  to  go  to  the  chapel;  'for,' 
said  he,  'there  will  be  trouble  there  to-day.' " 

Just  at  this  moment  a  man  rode  by,  carry- 
ing before  him  three  double-barreled  shot- 
guns.    "There,"  said  Mr.  Fields,  "do  you  see 

that  half-Injun?  He  lives  at  old  C O 's; 

there  is  something  up."  Turning  to  me  and 
looking  gravely  he  said,  "Shall  we  take  guns? 
I  have  one  rifle,  and  my  brother  has  two."  I 
replied,  "No,  I  carry  no  weapons  but  the 
gospel  of  truth;  and  then,  three  rifles  will  only 
provoke  greater  violence.  If  we  shall  be 
disturbed  I  will  make  my  appeal  to  the  Civil 
Courts,  as  I  always  have  done."  He  assented. 
In  due  season  we  took  our  horses  and  started 
for  the  chapel, — the  place  for  preaching. 

When  we  arrived,  Mr.  Marsh,  a  friend, 
who  was    outside  waiting  for  us,   advancing, 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

said,  in  a  very  subdued  tone,  "We  shall  have 
trouble  here  to-day."  I  replied,  "Let  us  do 
our  duty,  and  leave  the  results  with  God"; 
and  passed  on  into  the  house ;  for  when  duty 
is  clear,  it  is  not  wise  to  counsel  with  fears. 
Mr.  Marsh  followed  in,  and  seated  himself 
near  to  the  desk  where  I  stood.  He  seemed 
to  desire  to  be  near  to  me.  Exactly  on  time, 
eleven  o'clock,  we  commenced  the  service  of 
the  morning.  I  had  advanced  about  half  way 
in  my  sermon,  when  I  noticed  restiveness  in 
the  congregation,  and  some  young  men  left 
the  house.  I  knew  the  occasion,  for  I  was  so 
situated  that  I,  too,  could  see  the  crowds  of 
men,  on  horseback,  with  guns  on  their 
shoulders,  riding  rapidly  toward  the  chapel. 

In  a  moment  the  house  was  surrounded 
with  armed  men.  I  said  to  the  congregation, 
"Sit    still";    and    I    preached    on.     Soon   Mr. 

C- came  in,  and    seated    himself   by    Mr. 

Marsh.      C commenced     whispering    to 

Marsh.  Marsh  shook  his  head,  and  C got 

up  and  retired  from  the  house.  I  continued 
preaching    as  though    all    was    right.     Soon 

C came    in,    and    advancing  to  me  said, 

"Mr.  Fee,  there  are  men  here  who  want  you 
to  stop  and  come  out."     I  said,  "Mr.  Coving- 


JOHN  G,  FEE.  115 

ton,  I  am  engaged  in  a  religious  duty  and  in 
the  exercise  of  a  constitutional  right;  please 
sit  down  and  do  not  interrupt."  He  turned 
on  his  heel,  and  went  out.  Soon  three  men 
entered  the  doorway,  with  guns  in  their  hands, 
and  with  horrible  oaths  cried  out,  "Stop,  G — d 
d — n  you,  and  come  out  here."  I  preached  on. 
Marsh,  Fields,  and  others — men  and  women — 
remained,  still  apparently  listening.  Soon 
the  men  referred  to  rushed  forward,  and 
seizing  me  by  the  collar  of  my  coat,  and  by 
my  arms,  dragged  me  to  the  door.     There  a 

stout  man,  S ,  stepped   up,  and    pulling  a 

new  rope  from  his  pocket,  swore  he  would 
"hang  me  to  the  first  limb,  if  I  did  not  then 
promise  to  leave  the  county  and  never  come 
back  again."  I  replied,  "I  am  in  your  hands, 
men;  you  know  I  would  not  harm  one  of  you; 
if  you  harm  me,  upon  you  will  be  the  responsi- 
bility." With  violence  they  pulled  me  out 
into  the  highway, — the  county  road. 

The  captain  of  the  company,  coming  up, 
said,  "I  am  captain  of  this  company;  leave  him 
in  my  hands."  They  surrendered.  The  cap- 
tain led  me    aside,    and  with    the    concurring 

entreaty  of  Mr.  C ,  advised  me  to  promise 

these  men  that  I  would  leave  the  county  and 


116  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

not  come  back  again;  assuring  me  if  I  would 
do  so  they  would  not  hurt  me.  I  replied,  "I 
am  not  hasty  in  this  my  purpose  to  preach 
this  gospel  of  impartial  love,  and  bear  my 
testimony  against  this  great  perversion  of  it, 
human  slavery.  I  cannot  pledge  myself  to 
leave  where  I  believe  duty  calls." 

They  then  brought  my  horse  and  demanded 
that  I  mount.  I  did  so.  They  then  went 
back  into  the  chapel  and  brought  out  Bro. 
Jones;  and  the  captain  of  the  company  took 
him  behind  him  on  his  horse,  and  they  started 
with  us  for  Kentucky  River,  distant,  perhaps, 
twro  miles,  swearing  they  would  duck  me  as 
long  as  life  was  in  me.  The  ducking  I 
dreaded,  for  the  weather  was  cool, — in  Feb- 
ruary— the  river  at  full  tide,  and  I  not  an 
expert  swimmer.  Soon  after  starting,  the 
captain,  addressing  himself  to  me,  commenced 
talking  obscenely.  I  turned  to  him  and  asked 
if  he  had  a  mother.  He  replied,  "Yes."  I 
then  asked,  "Have  you  a  wife?"  He  again 
replied,  "Yes."  I  said,  "I  hope,  out  of  respect 
to  your  mother  and  your  wife,  if  not  to  others, 
you  will  speak  as  a  son  and  husband  ought 
to."  He  was  silent  for  a  time.  \§lavery  was 
a  corrupt  tree,  and  bore  corrupt  fruit, — made 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  Ill 

many  of  those  who  consented  to  it,  not  only 
lawless,  but  lecherous  and  vile.  Faithful  men 
and  women  needed  to  cry  out  against  it. 

When  the  crowd  had  advanced  about  half 
the  distance  to  the  river,  the  captain  called  a 
halt,  and  again  demanded  that  I  promise  to 
leave  the  county  and  not  return  again;  and 
added,  "You  have  said  that  the  men  engaged 
in  mobs  are  generally  poor  and  irresponsible 
men;  but  we  will  have  you  understand  that 
the  men  in  this  crowd  are  men  of  property 
and  standing."  I  replied,  "So  much  the 
greater  peril  to  society,  when  men  of  property 
and  standing  will  consent  to  disregard  law  and 
order."  I  again  said,  "I  can  make  no  pledges 
to  leave."  They  then  started  again  for  the 
river. 

I  had  been  in  the  hands  of  several  organized 
mobs  before.  I  had  been  in  the  midst  of  in- 
furiated crowds  not  organized,  who  seemed 
ready  to  rush  upon  me,  but  were  in  some  wajr 
hindered.  I  had  been  often  waylaid  and  sud- 
denly assaulted.  I  had  been  stoned  on  the 
highway;  but  this  was  the  most  formidable  of 
all,  and,  apparently,  "meant  business."  The 
mob  took  us  near  to  the  bank  of  the  river. 
There  the  leaders  left  me  in  the  care  of  others, 


118  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  turned  off  to  counsel  with  men  who  were 
for  some  reason  already  on  the  ground. 

The  men  left  to  guard  me  were  maniiestly 
poor  men,  with  some  young  men.  These 
seemed  to  enter  into  sympathy  with  me,  and 
in  an  undertone  one  said  to  me,  "Just  promise 
these  men  to  leave,  and  they  will  not  hurt 
you."  I  replied,  "It  is  not  fitting  that  I,  a 
native  citizen,  pledge  to  these  men  that  I  leave 
my  home  and  the  work  to  which  I  believe 
God  has  called  me."  I  said,  "You  cannot  see 
my  motives  now;  you  will  at  the  Judgment 
Day."  By  this  time  the  leaders  had  returned, 
and  men  were  around  me  in  circles  three  deep, 
and  heard  these  last  words.  One  cried  out, 
"We  did  not  come  here  to  hear  a  sermon,  let 
us  do  our  work."  They  then  took  Bro. 
Jones  and  myself  nearer  to  the  bank  of  the 
river  and  ordered  Bro.  Jones  to  strip  himself. 
He  took  off  his  coat.  The  captain  cried  out, 
"Take  off  your  jacket."  He  did  so.  "Now 
your  shirt — strip  to  the  red."  Jones  hesitated. 
The  captain  stripped  him  to  the  bare  back, 
bent  the  man  down,  and  with  three  sycamore 
rods,  heavy  and  thick,  struck  the  unoffending 
man  many  severe  blows,  leaving  the  marks 
on  his    body  as  distinct    as    the    fingers  on  a 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  119 

man's  hand.  The  suffering  man  groaned  and 
fell  forward. 

The  captain  then  turned  to  me,  and,  with 
an  oath,  said,  "I  will  give  you  five  hundred 
times  as  much  if  you  do  not  promise  to  leave 
this  county  and  not  come  back  again."  I  said 
to  him,  "I  will  take  my  suffering  first,"  and 
knelt  down.  One  of  the  crowd,  whom  I  then 
knew  not — who  "held  the  clothes" — now  an 
official  in  the  county,  and  a  very  estimable 
citizen,  cried  out,   "Don't  strike  him."      Then 

another  cried  out,  "Don't  strike  him."    O 

said,  "I  feel  that  I  ought  to,  but  don't  like  to 
go  against  my  party; — get  up  and  go  home." 

I  got  on  my  horse,  and  took  Bro.  Jones  be- 
hind me,  for  he  was  so  disabled  by  the  whip- 
ing  that  he  could  not  walk. 

The  retreat  of  these  men  of  "property  and 
standing,"  from  their  work  at  the  Big  Bend  of 
Kentucky  River,  was  ludicrously  orderly. 
The  captain  ordered  all  to-  march  away  in 
double  file.  The  column  was  quite  long  and 
imposing.  Bro.  Jones  and  I,  two  unarmed 
men  on  one  horse,  in  the  middle,  the  men  of 
"property"  in  front,  and  the  men  of  "standing" 
in  the  rear. 

The  procession  marched  in  this  manner  for 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

some  two  or  three  miles.  On  coming  to  Cov- 
ington's factory,  the  command  was  given, 
"Right  about,  wheel."  This  was  meant  for 
those  who  had  enlisted  for  the  previously  de- 
scribed "service."  Bro.  Jones  and  I  had  not 
thus  enlisted;  hence  we  kept  the  straightfor- 
ward road,  as  all  then  desired  us  to  do. 

After  a  ride  of  one  or  two  miles,  we  came 
to  a  forest.  There  we  dismounted  and  read 
the  fourth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Acts,  and 
had  a  season  of  prayer.  We  then  again 
mounted  the  one  horse,  and  rode  on  quite  a 
number  of  miles  to  the  house  of  a  relative  of 
Bro.  Jones.     There  we  stopped  for  the  night. 

After  supper  we  had  a  season  of  worship. 
I  felt  led  to  speak  at  length, — stood  up  and 
did  so.  At  the  end  of  the  discourse  the  head 
of  the  family  and  his  wife  came  forward,  and 
professed  faith  in  Christ  Jesus  as  their 
Saviour.  That  night  was  one  of  very  great 
peace  and  joy  to  me.  I  had  quiet  communion 
and  fellowship  with  Christ  Jesus,  my  Lord. 

In  the  morning  Bro.  Jones  was  not  able  to 
travel.  That  portion  of  his  body — his  back — 
which  had  been  bruised  by  the  whipping  was 
purple  because  of  the  bruising  and  stagnated 
blood.     I  left  him,  only  sorrowing  that  I  had 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  121 

not  shared  some  of  his  suffering,  and  thus 
been  brought  more  fully  into  sympathy  with 
our  once  suffering  Lord  and  his  then  suffering 
poor.     Of  this  experience  I  was  conscious. 

Alone  I  started  for  my  home,  some  ten  or 
twelve  miles  distant.  Terror  had  spread  its 
pall  over  all  the  country.  No  glad  faces 
greeted,  until  I  came  to  my  little  home.  Wife 
and  children  were  glad  to  see  me, — wife  not 
apparently  surprised  nor  dismayed.  Violent 
persecution  was  to  both  of  us  no  new  thing; 
it  had  been  of  frequent  occurrence  during  the 
past  twelve  years . 

I  had  anticipated  something  of  this,  when, 
fifteen  years  previously,  I  had  entered  into 
covenant  with  God  to  preach  in  this,  my 
native  State,  this  gospel  of  love,  of  justice,  of 
liberty.  I  had  then  counted  the  cost,  and  did 
not  then,  nor  in  the  hands  of  any  mob,  have  to 
decide  what  to  do. 

In  these  trials  my  wife  was  more  cheery 
than  I.  This  cheered  life's  pathway.  I  did 
not  habitually  rejoice  as  it  was  my  privilege 
and  duty  to  do.     (See  Matt.  5:  12.) 

We  remained  at  our  home  in  great  quietude 
for  two  days.  I  then  took  my  horse  and  rode 
to  Richmond,  the  county  seat,  and  engaged 


122  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  services  of  two  lawyers  to  aid  Bro.  Jones 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  leaders  of  the  mob. 
]  chose  to  make  the  prosecution  in  his  behalf 
rather  than  in  my  own.  He  was  regarded  as 
a  Republican,  and  I  as  a  "Radical."  I  also 
thought  that  in  this  way  I  woula  secure  Mr. 
Clay's  co-operation,  and  addressed  a  letter  to 
him,  requesting  his  aid  in  behalf  of  Bro.  Jones. 
He  declined,  saying,  "To  do  so  would  be  only 
'robbing  Peter  to  pay  Paul,'  "  and  then  ad- 
vised me  to  leave  the  county.  He  kindly 
offered  to  take  care  of  my  family  and 
property. 

I  returned  home.  Speedily  large  numbers 
of  the  mob  came  to  Richmond,  and,  as  I  was 
informed,  swore  they  would  give  five  hundred 
lashes  to  the  lawyer  who  would  dare  to 
defend  Fee  or  Jones.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
prosecution  was  made.  The  Circuit  Judge, 
a  kind  man,  afterward  a  Republican,  witnessed 
the  bravado  of  the  threatening  mob;  the 
Grand  Jury  took  no  notice  of  the  occurrence; 
the  civil  arm  was  paralyzed  by  the  slave 
power. 

A  crisis  came  to  Berea.  For  weeks  there 
was  a  reign  of  terror.  The  male  members  of 
the    church,  with    others    who  were    friends, 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  123 

held  three  formal  councils,  to  which  I  was  in- 
vited. These  men  entreated  that  I  leave; 
saying,  "There  is  an  overwhelming  feeling 
against  you;  your  friends  cannot  protect  you; 
the  mob  will  kill  you  and  destroy  your  prop- 
erty." I  replied,  "I  came  here  to  do  my 
duty,  and  when  the  mob  shall  come  they  will 
find  me  at  my  post." 

For  weeks,  not  a  man  came  through  our 
little  rustic  gate,  save  Otis  B.  Waters,  the 
teacher,  and  "Ham"  Rawlings,  the  tried  friend 
oft  referred  to.  He  would  come  "every  few 
days,"  and  on  leaving,  would  say,  "Quist 
(Christ)  was  a  Wadical  (Radical),"  and  drop 
large  tears  of  affection  over  our  little  children 
as  he  was  bidding  them  "good-by." 

These  were  dark  days, — days  in  which  we 
could  walk  only  by  faith,  not  by  sight, — 
taught  to  "endure  as  seeing  Him  who  is  in- 
visible." 

I  kept  up  appointments  for  preaching  in  the 
school-house.  For  a  time  the  congregation 
was  composed  of  women,  save  one  or  two 
male  members.  Some  men  who  were  friends 
stood  around  in  the  forest,  some  with  guns 
near  by. 

After  a    time    fears    subsided,   a    few    men 


124  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

came  in,  some  souls  were  converted,  the  little 
school  went  on  until  the  close  of  the  term. 
Then  Bro,  Waters  returned  to  Oberlin,  Ohio, 
to  further  prosecute  his  studies  in  preparation 
for  the  Gospel  ministry. 

It  was  notoriously  true  that  sudden  des- 
truction came  upon  the  leaders  of  these  latter 
mobs,  as  had  been  true  in  Lewis,  Mason  and 
Bracken  Counties.  Here  in  Madison  County, 
one  of  the  violent  men  in  the  mob  was  stabbed 
six  times  and  fell  dead;  another  was  shot  in 
his  yard;  another  shot  whilst  sitting  in  his 
house;  another  stabbed,  and  after  lingering 
some  days  died. 

So  of  the  Dripping  Spring  mob: —  two  of 
the  leading  violent  men  were  shot;  a  third 
cut  to  pieces  v/ith  a  bowie-knife.  So  in  the 
Rockcastle  mob  the  destruction  came  speedily 
and  numerous.  Men  of  that  reckless  class 
faintly  saw  a  providence,  and  among  them- 
selves banded  around  the  saying,  "Old  Master 
is  against  us." 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  125 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Coming  of  J.  A.  R.  Rogers. — Visit  of  C.  M.  Clay. — His 
Expediencies. — The  first  Commencement. — Adoption 
of  a  Constitution. — Caste. — Sectarianism. — Decision 
to  Raise  Funds. — Visit  to  the  Imprisoned  Mother. — 
Address  in  Plymouth  Church.  —  Excitement  in 
Madison  County. — Expulsion  of  Teachers  and 
Friends  at  Berea. — Excitement  in  Bracken  County. — 
Wife  Returns  to  Berea. — Our  Sojourn  in  Ohio. — Death 
and  Burial  of  our  Son  Tappan. — Visit  to  Berea. 

Early  in  the  year  1858  Bro.  J.  A.  R. 
Rogers,  a  graduate  from  Oberlin  Institute, 
literary  and  theological,  came  to  Berea.  He 
was  an  earnest  Christian  worker.  He  saw 
something  of  the  future  power  of  the  proposed 
school.  He  entered  at  once  into  this,  and  by 
his  efficiency  and  enthusiasm  brought  it  into 
high  repute.  Pupils  flocked  in  from  Madison 
and  adjacent  counties. 

The  closing  exhibition  of  the  school,  under 
the  supervision  of  Bro.  Rogers,  was  at  hand. 
On  the  day  preceding  this  exhibition,  Cassius 
M.  Clay  had  an  appointment  to  deliver  an  ad- 
dress to  the  people  of  Berea  and  vicinity.     He 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

had  not  been  at  Berea  since  our  difference  of 
opinion  at  Slate  Lick,  July  4, 1856.  Not  many 
persons  were  present,  and  in  the  defense  of  his 
conservative  position  he  was  without  his 
former  enthusiasm.  After  the  address  he 
walked  with  me  into  the  woodland,  then  be- 
fore my  door,  and  as  we  sat  down  on  a  log, 
he  remarked,  "Fee,  things  look  better  than  I 
thought  they  would.  I  am  in  heart  as  much  a 
higher  law  man  as  you  are,  and  if  we  were  in 
Massachusetts  v\e  could  carry  it  out;  but  here 
we  cannot."  I  replied,  "The  utterance  of 
moral  truth  should  not  be  confined  to  geograph- 
ical limits,  especially  in  a  national  canvass." 

The  reader  will  allow  me  to  here  say,  that, 
in  my  judgment,  this  notion  of  expediency  in 
the  non-utterance  of  moral  truth,  lest  it  should 
seem  to  hinder  success,  as  exhibited  in  this  re- 
mark of  Mr.  Clay's,  was  the  great  mistake  of 
his  life,  and  that  it  took  from  him  that  moral 
power  that  was  necessary  for  success,  and  did 
more  at  that  time  to  hinder  his  advancement 
to  the  highest  position  which  the  people  of 
this  nation  could  give,  than  an}^  other  cause. 

Take  as  another  illustration  of  his  expedien- 
cies— his  going  to  the  war  with  Mexico.  At 
the  time  of  his  enlistment  he   was  editing  the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  127 

True  American,  published  then  in  Lexington, 
Ky.  His  exposition  of  the  evils  of  slavery- 
was  just;  his  style  vigorous;  and  his  courage 
admired  by  all  lovers  of  liberty.  No  star  in 
the  horizon  of  the  American  people  was  rising 
so  rapidly.  In  his  manly  journal  he  had  de- 
nounced the  aggression  upon  Mexico  as  a 
scheme  for  the  extension  of  American  slavery; 
and  yet,  whilst  editing  the  most  effective 
journal  in  the  nation,  and  enrapturing  crowded 
audiences  by  his  lectures  on  the  "social  and 
political  evils  of  slavery,"  he  volunteered  to  go 
into  that  war,  waged  for  the  wicked  intent — 
"the  extension  of  slavery."  He  went;  was 
captured,  imprisoned,  returned.  He  expected 
an  ovation.  Such  as  he  had  hoped  for  he  did 
not  receive. 

He  said  to  me,  "Fee,  I  expected  by  going 
to  Mexico  to  convince  the  South  that  I  was 
not  their  enemy,  but  the  enemy  of  slavery; 
but  they  gave  me  no  thanks  for  it."  However 
wise  he  may  have  thought  his  enlistment  was, 
the  nation  saw  that  it  was  "doing  evil  that 
good  might  come." 

This  apprehension  of  the  people  threw  him 
out  of  line  with  the  moral  element  that  was 
then  moving  the    nation  to  the  overthrow  of 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

slavery — to  victory  in  the  line,  not  of  expedi- 
encies, but  of  absolute  right. 

It  is  sometimes  true  that  a  man  must  "stand 
still  and  see  the  salvation  of  God" — commit 
himself  to  that  only  which  God  can  use,  the 
absolute  right,  and  then  work  and  wait  until 
God  can  vindicate  the  right.  Then  the  man 
will  have  the  confidence  of  righteous  men, — 
the  only  men  God  can  use  as  the  true  builders 
of  His  work.  Then  will  he  have  that  conscious 
unity  with  God  that  gives  quiet,  true  courage 
and  endurance;  then,  too,  he  will  be  kept 
from  drifting  into  other  departures  from  God 
and  right — his  "seed,"  his  holy  purpose  to  be 
one  with  God  and  the  right,  "remaineth  in 
him"  to  keep  him. 

The  narrative  concerning  Saul  was  written 
for  our  admonition  and  instruction.  He  had 
at  one  time  a  commanding  position.  God, 
through  his  prophet,  told  Saul,  as  God's  min- 
ister and  the  executive  of  the  nation,  to  go 
and  "hew  down  the  Amalekites, — men, 
women  and  children;  ox  and  sheep."  Saul 
spared  Agag  and  the  best  of  the  sheep  and 
oxen  for  sacrifice — an  attempt  to  atone  for 
neglect  of  absolute  obedience  by  a  large 
sacrifice.     God  said,  "To   obey  is  better  than 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  129 

sacrifice;  and  to  hearken,  than  the  fat  of 
rams."  He  took  His  Spirit  and  the  kingdom 
from  Saul. 

Other  departures  from  God  and  right 
marked  the  after  career  of  Saul.  So  of  my 
friend  C.  M.  Clay;  and  there  will  not  be  safety 
to  any  man  except  as  he  is  anchored  fully 
in  God. 

We  would  not  have  made  this  personal 
allusion  but  for  the  fact  that  the  struggle  with 
Mr.  Clav  and  his  views  of  expediency  were  a 
part,  and  the  severest  part,  of  the  history  of 
Berea  and  its  work.  Also,  we  believe  that 
readers,  especially  the  youth,  ought  to  have 
the  benefit  of  our  observations,  experiences 
and  suggestions.  History  should  have  its 
lessons. 

Mr.  Clay  at  this  time  was  the  most  con- 
spicuous character  in  the  history  of  Berea. 
His  known  opposition  to  us  was  a  power 
more  potent  and  depressing  than  all  the  mobs 
in  the  State.  His  position  seemed  wise  to 
many,  whilst  that  of  the  mobs  was  at  all  times 
simply  brutish  and  cowardly.  Also,  at  that 
time,  Mr.  Clay  had  a  national  reputation  for 
courage,  patriotism,  philanthropy,  and  a  high 
social  position.    With  all  this  he  was  as  strong 


130  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

in  condemning  my  position  as  he  had  been 
previously  free  in  commending.  He  took 
pains  to  publish  to  the  world  that  he  had 
"denounced  Mr.  Fee's  position,"  (though  he 
had  substantially  conceded  it  at  the  Slate  Lick 
celebration,  and  had  confessed  that  he  was 
with  me  "in  heart,")  and  that  my  position  was 
"insurrectionary,  revolutionary  and  danger- 
ous"; though  I  had  been  careful  to  say,  "I 
make  no  rebellion,  or  armed  resistance — only 
exercise  my  province  as  a  minister  for  God  to 
utter  moral  truth — that  human  slavery  is 
contrary  to  natural  right,  and,  as  such,  statutes 
enforcing  it  are  without  the  elements  of  true 
law,  exist  by  mere  usurpation,  and  are  con- 
fessedly contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  and  as 
such  ought  not  by  human  courts  to  be 
enforced." 

Mr.  Clay  did  not  intend  to  misrepresent, 
but  only  to  state  his  opinion  of  what  would  be 
the  tendency  of  my  utterances.  This  opinion 
of  his  was,  at  that  time,  a  great  weight — a 
weight  to  be  endured,  until  God,  by  His 
providence,  should  "break  every  yoke,  and  let 
the  oppressed  go  free."  This  He  did,  and 
then  everybody  said,  Amen. 

Also,  Mr.  Clay's  objection  to  the  co-educa- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  131 

tion  of  the  "races" — the  impartial  feature  of 
the  school  and  church  at  Berea — was  well 
known.  He  did  not  believe  such  a  school 
could  be  a  numerical  or  a  financial  success. 
Also  he  feared  evil  results  to  virtue.  We  had 
then  no  sufficient  precedent  to  guide,  and  no 
theory  to  maintain,  save  that  it  is  always  safe 
to  do  right — follow  Christ;  and  we  knew  He 
would  not  turn  away  anyone  who  came  seek- 
ing knowledge,  even  if  "carved  in  ebon}'." 
We  knew  that  whilst  He  is  a  respecter  of 
character,  he  is  not  of  persons.  As  His 
followers,  there  was  to  us  but  the  one  course 
to  pursue — open  the  school  to  all  of  virtuous 
habits.  Also  we  believed  that  the  best  way 
to  inspire  woman,  colored  or  white,  with 
virtuous  sentiments,  and  establish  in  her  habits 
of  purity,  was  not  to  treat  her  invidiously — 
shut  her  up  in  pens,  schools,  by  herself,  but 
treat  her  like  other  women  of  respectability 
and  thus  inspire  her  with  hope  and  noble 
resolve,  and  lift  her  above  the  seductive  in- 
fluences of  a  vicious  life.  In  other  words, 
practice  the  Golden  Rule — "do  unto  all  as 
you  would  they  should  do  unto  you." 

The  wisdom  of  following  this  rule  has  been 
verified   in    the    history    of     the    school    and 


132  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

church  at  Berea,  and  we  have  occasion  to 
know  that  Mr.  Clay  greatly  rejoices  in  this 
fact.  Mr.  Clay  thought  that  he  was  pursuing 
the  wisest  course,  but  he  was  misled,  as  many 
are  now,  by  his  notions  of  expediency. 

There  were  other  facts  of  interest  connected 
with  the  closing  exercises  of  the  first  term  of 
the  school  in  1858,  indicating  a  change  of 
public  sentiment,  and  strong  sympathy  with 
the  school,  and  kind  regard  for  those  con- 
ducting it. 

In  the  grove  in  front  of  the  school-room  a 
large  and  beautiful  bower- had  been  prepared, 
and  hand-bills  posted,  announcing  the  order  of 
exercises  for  the  forenoon,  and  the  speakers 
for  the  afternoon.  The  sun  on  the  24th  day 
of  June,  unveiled  by  a  single  cloud,  rose  upon 
us  in  great  beauty  and  glory.  All  around 
was  quiet  and  lovely.  Nature  was  arrayed  in 
her  most  beautiful  dress.  At  an  early  hour 
the  people  came  from  this  and  adjoining 
counties  to  witness  the  exhibition.  At  the 
appointed  hour  the  exercises  were  opened  by 
singing  from  well-trained  voices,  and  by 
prayer  to  Almighty  God  for  his  guidance 
and  blessing. 

The  valedictory,  the  closing  address  of  the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  133 

school,  was  delivered  by  a  young  man,  bright 
in  intellect,  amiable  in  spirit,  and  upright  in 
conduct;  the  son  of  a  man  who  was  first  in 
the  formation  of  the  church  at  Berea,  and  in 
every  good  work.  That  only  and  loved  son 
fell  on  the  battlefield  at  Bellmon%  Mo.  In  his 
allusion  to  teachers  and  fellow-students,  he 
was  completely  overcome  with  emotion,  and 
many  in  the  audience  were  moved  to  tears. 

An  excellent  dinner  had  been  prepared  and 
spread  on  long  tables  in  the  grove.  All  were 
invited  to  partake.  Among  those  who  par- 
took were  men  who  had  been  engaged  in 
former  mobs.  Without  any  ostentation  the}* 
were  kindly  treated,  and  they  seemed  to 
appreciate  the  kindness. 

Dr.  Chase,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a 
relative  of  S.  P.  Chase,  once  Secretary  of  U.  S. 
Treasury,  was  there.  He  was  then  a  practicing 
physician  in  this  county,  and  was  announced 
as  the  first  speaker.  As  he  came  upon  the 
platform,  a  portly  and  venerable-looking  man 
from  an  adjoining  county,  and  an  ex-member 
of  the  State  legislature,  arose  in  the  audience 
and  cried  out,  "Dr.  Chase,  I  want  to  speak, 
and  to  speak  now;  for  I  cannot  tarrv  until 
your  exercises  are  all  through.''     Dr.  Chase 


134  AUTOBIOGBAPHF  OF 

gave  place.  The  ex-legislator,  then  the 
owner  of  quite  a  number  of  slaves,  came  on 
to  the  platform,  and  began  by  saying,  "When 
I  came  up  here  with  my  friend  Mason," 
(another  slaveholder  and  then  a  citizen  of 
this  county,)  "I  expected  to  see  a  little  handful 
in  the  bresh,"  (brush,)  "but  when  I  saw  this 
large  assembly,  orderly,  and  listening  with 
marked  attention  and  interest,  and  when  I 
saw  the  marked  progress  of  these  pupils,  and 
the  manifest  sympathy  between  teachers  and 
pupils,,  my  heart  was  touched.  I  thought  of 
the  days  when  I  was  a  teacher  of  youth  in 
Virginia." 

Turning  to  parents,  he  said,  "Teach  your 
children  to  make  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
their  brow;  give  them  education,  and  teach 
them  virtue  and  morality;  and  the  best  of  all 
rules  is,  'Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men 
should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them.'  " 
To  such  utterances,  on  such  an  occasion,  we 
were  not  averse.  The  rest  of  his  short 
address  was  pertinent  and  good. 

He  stepped  from  the  platform,  and  walking 
to  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  he  met  an  old 
acquaintance,  then  a  patron  of  the  school,  and 
taking  him  by  the   hand   said,  "Jimmy,  I  be- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  135 

lieve  in  my  soul  the  'niggers'  will  be  free  yet; 
but,  d — n  it,  I  mean  to  hold  on  to  mine  as  long- 
as  I  can."  He  did;  but  in  1864,  Uncle  Sam 
came  along  and  gave  them  all  a  blue  coat. 

After  this  unexpected  episode  in  the  closing 
exercises  of  the  school,  Dr.  Chase  and  others 
made  addresses,  and  the  large  and  orderly  as- 
sembly dispersed,  evidently  deeply  impressed 
in  favor  of  Christian  education — slavery  or  no 
slavery.  The  outlook,  on  that  day,  was  good 
for  Berea. 

Hundreds  now  continue  to  express  their 
surprise  at  the  interest  manifested  by  the 
people  at  the  commencement  exercises  of 
Berea  College.  Usually  from  three  to  live 
thousand  people  attend.  Two-thirds  of  these 
are  white.  The  large  tabernacle,  which  seats 
some  two  thousand  people,  will  not  seat  more 
than  half  the  people  who  come.  Good  order 
generally  prevails.  The  delivery  on  the 
platform  of  essays  and  orations  from  colored 
and  white  students,  male  and  female,  is  an 
educational  force  to  the  thousands  who  attend. 

In  all  these  efforts  there  was  a  continuous 
purpose  to  establish  in  interior  Kentucky  a 
college  for  the  education  of  the  youth  of  the 
land.        Adverse    circumstances    had    all    the 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

while  been  threatening  to  thwart  any  such 
effort.  These,  however,  only  served  to  make 
more  apparent  the  necessity  of  such  an 
educational  agency,  and  to  make  strong  the 
purpose  of  its  original  projectors. 

Now  that  possibly  the  severest  effort  to  in- 
timidate had  passed  by,  and  the  reaction  in 
favor  of  liberty  and  education  was  manifest,  it 
was  deemed  wise  to  make  an  advance  move- 
ment. Accordingly,  as  shown  in  the  minutes 
of  the  conventions  that  devised  ways  and 
means  to  the  end,  on  Sept.  7,  1858,  John  G. 
Fee,  J.  A.  R.  Rogers,  John  G.  Hanson,  John 
Smith,  Wm.  Stapp,  and  John  Burnham,  Sr., 
met  at  the  study  of  John  G.  Fee,  and  after 
prayer  and  consultation  appointed  J.  A.  R. 
Rogers,  John  Smith  and  Wm.  Stapp  a  com- 
mittee to  draft  Preamble  and  Constitution,  to 
be  considered  at  next  meeting,  which  meeting 
was  held  Dec.  1,  1858.  At  this  meeting  the 
proposed  Constitution  was  considered,  and 
after  some  modification  adopted.  Other 
meetings  were  held,  a  board  of  trustees  was 
appointed,  and  officers  were  elected  as  follows : 
John  G.  Fee,  president;  J.  A.  R.  Rogers, 
vice-president;  John  G.  Hanson,  secretary; 
T.  E.  Renfro,  treasurer. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  137 

Other  meetings  of  the  board  followed,  addi- 
tional trustees  were  added,  and  on  July  14, 
1859,  the  Constitution  was  reaffirmed  and  by- 
laws adopted.  It  was  the  firm  belief  of  the 
projectors  of  this  college  that  an  institution 
designed  for  the  education  of  youth  should 
not  merely  teach  the  classics  and  so-called 
natural  sciences,  but  also  moral  science — the 
religion  of  the  Bible,  that  puts  man  in 
harmony  with  God  and  His  laws  in  reference 
to  the  government  of  man — that  science  that 
teaches  that  God  is  the  source  of  all  true  law, 
that  men  are  only  legislators,  that  is,  law 
bnngers,  as  the  word  imports;  and  that  man, 
universal  man,  is  entitled  to  the  full  benefit  of 
these  laws. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  a  Constitution  with 
by-laws  for  the  government  of  such  an  institu- 
tion, would  be  in  harmony  with  such  senti- 
ments. The  first  by-law  declared,  "The 
object  of  this  college  shall  be  to  furnish  the 
facilities  for  thorough  education  to  all  persons 
of  good  moral  character."  The  second  by- 
law was  more  specific,  and  is  as  follows* 
"This  college  shall  be  under  an  influence 
strictly  Christian,  and  as  such,  opposed  to 
sectarianism,  slave-holding,  caste,  and  every 


138  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

other  wrong  institution  or  practice."  Opposi- 
tion to  caste  meant  the  co-education  of  the 
(so-called)  "races."  This  has  been  the  con- 
tinued practice  of  the  college. 

There  were,  some  of  the  friends  of  liberty 
who  could  assent  to  the  general  principles  of 
justice  and  love,  who  thought  it  not  expedient 
to  make  a  literal,  specific  application  of  them; 
that  whilst  the  rule,  "do  unto  men  as  you 
would  that  they  should  do  unto  you,"  was  a 
good  rule  in  general,  it  was  not  expedient  to 
practice  upon  it  in  the  co-education  of  the 
races. 

Among  these  was  our  friend,  C.  M.  Clay. 
He  declined  to  act  as  a  trustee.  Soon  two, 
and  then  after  a  time  a  third  one  of  those  who 
first  agreed  to  be  trustees,  dropped  out. 
Thus  the  caste  issue  sifted  the  very  board  of 
trustees  themselves. 

There  were  many  others  who  were  opposed 
to  slavery  and  desired  the  entire  liberty  of 
the  negro,  yet  were  unprepared  to  give  to 
him  that  position  which  merit  required,  and 
which  is  a  great  incentive  to  noble  and 
virtuous  conduct.  Such  Christ-like  treatment 
would  tend  to  the  harmony  of  society,  the 
solidification  of  the  social  forces  of  the  nation, 


JOHN  G.  FEEt  133 

and  present  a  proper  exhibition  of  the  Gospel 
of  Christ,  who  is  Himself  no  respecter  of 
persons.  (He  is  of  character — not  of 
persons.)  The  incorporation  of  the  principle 
of  impartial  conduct  to  all,  in  institutions  for 
the  public  good,  was  to  the  founders  of  Berea 
College  the  only  course  at  once  Christian, 
patriotic,  and  philanthropic.  This  now  incor- 
porated feature  of  the  college  made  the 
school,  and  community  in  which  it  was 
nestled,  still  more  odious  to  an  unregenerate 
public  sentiment;  and  as  we  shall  hereafter 
notice,  subjected  us  to  still  greater  outrages. 
Another  hindrance  to  reform  and  progress 
was  sectarianism.  The  founders  of  the  col- 
lege saw  that  in  every  community  where  they 
raised  their  voices  against  slavery,  caste,  se- 
cretism,  rum-selling,  any  popular  vice,  imme- 
diately members  of  the  sects  would  be  found 
shrinking  from  the  proclamation  of  truth  and 
the  utterance  of  their  own  convictions,  lest  by 
so-doing  they  should  peril  the  safety  of  their 
sects,  or  denominations.  With  the  semblance 
of  piety  they  would  say,  "Peace  is  best,"  and 
thus  smother  truth.  The  founders  also  saw 
that  everywhere  the  shelves  of  libraries  and 
book-stores   were    bending    beneath    the  vol- 


140  A  UTOBIOGEAPHY  OF 

umes  written  on  theological  dogmas,  whilst 
"truth  [practical  truth]  was  fallen  in  the 
streets,  an^  equity  could  not  enter."  Ministers 
were  spending  their  energies  in  zealous  de- 
bates and  fervid,  eloquent  pleadings  over  the 
shibboleths  of  party,  whilst  the  slave  was 
groaning  in  his  bondage,  and  the  masters  were 
deluded  with  false  hopes  and  a  perverted 
Bible. 

The  founders  of  Berea  College  not  only 
felt  that  the  fountains  of  all  good,  of  true  re- 
ligion, should  be  opened,  but  that  the  great 
barrier,  sectarianism,  should  be  removed. 
They  also  saw  that  no  influence  is  so  potent 
for  the  removal  of  error  and  the  establish- 
ment of  truth,  as  that  of  chartered  institutions, 
having  the  prestige  of  men  of  learning  and 
piety.  They  resolved  "that  Berea  College 
should  be  under  an  influence  strictly  Chris- 
tian, and,  as  such,  opposed  to  sectarianism, 
slave-holding,  caste,  and  every  other  wrong- 
institution  and  practice."  In  declaring  that 
the  institution  should  be  opposed  to  sectarian- 
ism, the  trustees,  as  explained  in  the  minutes 
of  the  meeting  that  adopted  the  Constitution 
and  by-laws,  were  careful  and  explicit;  say- 
ing, "In  the   election  of  president,  professors, 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  141 

or  teachers,  no  sectarian  test  shall  be  applied, 
but  it  shall  be  required  that  the  candidate  be 
competent  to  fill  the  office,  and  have  a  Chris- 
tian experience  with  a  righteous  practice." 

The  trustees  further  added,  "To  be  anti- 
sectarian  is  to  oppose  everything  that  causes 
schism  in  the  body  of  Christ,  or  among  those 
who  are  Christians, — those  who  have  a  Chris- 
tian experience  with  a  righteous  practice";  so 
that  it  is  requisite  that  a  president,  professor, 
or  teacher  of  Berea  College  be  not  merely 
negative  on  this  issue, — simply  not  sectarian, 
but  positive, — that  he  shall  oppose  sectarian- 
ism as  he  would  slave-holding,  caste,  rum- 
selling,  or  any  other  "wrong  practice." 

To  help  in  the  removal  of  the  sin  of  schism 
is  one  of  the  missions  of  Berea  College,  and  no 
person  as  "president,  professor  or  teacher,"  is 
faithful  to  the  spirit  or  letter  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  college  who  adopts  or  defends 
sectarianism, — yea,  does  not  oppose  and  seek 
to  correct  the  "evil  practice."  The  interests 
of  society  and  the  kingdom  of  Christ  require 
this. 

The  Constitution  and  by-laws  of  Berea  Col- 
lege having  been  adopted,  the  trustees  de- 
cided to   raise   funds  and  erect  buildings  for 

io 


142  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

school  purposes  as  speedily  as  possible.  With 
the  consent  of  the  trustees,  the  prudential 
committee,  composed  of  J.  G.  Fee,  J.  A.  R. 
Rogers,  J.  G.  Hanson,  and  Thomas  Renfro, 
decided  that,  making  themselves  personally 
responsible,  they  would  contract  for  117  acres 
of  land,  including  the  present  site  of  Berea 
College,  and  that  on  which  part  of  the  village 
of  Berea  now  stands.  Soon  after  the  informa- 
tion of  this  purchase  I  went  to  Worcester, 
Mass.,  to  attend  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
American  Missionary  Association.  The  Asso- 
ciation was  at  that  time  undenominational,  and 
not  doing  avowedly  the  work  of  any  one 
denomination,  as  it  now  is  doing. 

I  decided  that  on  my  way  to  Worcester, 
Mass.,  I  would  take  my  family  to  visit  Julett 
Miles,  the  imprisoned  mother,  yet  in  the 
State's  prison  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  as  narrated 
in  chapter  third. 

We  arrived  at  Frankfort  on  Saturday  after- 
noon. We  went  to  the  prison  and  saw  the 
keeper,  Mr.  South.  We  inquired  for  "Julett," 
the  colored  woman  sent  there  from  Bracken 
County  for  attempting  to  get  her  children 
into  freedom.  "Yes,"  said  he,  "she  is  at  my 
house.     I  took  her  out  of  prison  to  help  my 


JOHN  a.  FEE.  143 

daughter.  I  thought  she  looked  like  a  Chris- 
tian woman."  The  reader  will  note  the  fact 
that  men  and  women  were  deemed  valuable  in 
proportion  as  they  had  Christ  in  them, — in 
proportion  as  they  were  temples  of  the  Holy 
Spirit, — they  were  the  more  trustworthy. 
The  keeper  of  the  prison  having  assured  us 
that  we  should  see  the  woman  at  the  prison 
the  next  morning,  we  then  repaired  to  our 
hotel. 

That  night,  leaving  my  wife  with  the  three 
smaller  children  at  the  hotel,  I  took  Laura, 
my  daughter,  then  fourteen  years  old,  and 
went  to  the  colored  Baptist  church,  and  lis- 
tened to  a  very  effective  sermon  delivered  by 
a  portly,  fine-looking  colored  man,  whose 
name  was  Monroe.  I  was  present  in  the 
early  part  of  the  services.  I  heard  the  earn- 
est prayers,  the  familiar  songs,  the  low, 
plaintive  symphonies  of  the  women, — of  moth- 
ers whose  bosoms  had  been  the  seats  of  sor- 
rows. I  had  heard  these  lowwailings  before; 
but  a  series  of  experiences,  and  my  situation 
at  that  time,  all  conspired  to  bring  me  more 
fully  into  sympathy  with  the  sorrowing.  I  sat 
and  quietly  wept — wept  with  continuous  weep- 
ing.   I  was  in  deep  sympathy  with  burdened 


144  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

spirits.  At  the  close  of  the  service  I  went  for- 
ward and  shook  hands  with  the  preacher,  and 
told  him  I  had  been  greatly  benefited  by  the 
service.  Laura  and  I  returned  to  the  hotel. 
The  next  morning,  about  10  o'clock,  we  all,  as 
a  family,  went  to  the  prison.  "Julett"  was  there. 
She  was  overjoyed  at  seeing  my  children.  She 
had  always  manifested  much  affection  for 
them.  We  were  privileged  to  sit  down  and 
have  a  very  free  and  extended  conversation 
with  her  about  her  nine  children,  their  un- 
known destiny,  and  her  own  future. 

We  then  inquired  of  the  keeper  for  Calvin 
Fairbanks,  a  white  man,  who  was  then  in  the 
prison  under  sentence  for  aiding  away  slaves. 
We  were  told  that  he  was  in  his  cell, — "not 
well."  My  wife  heard  the  whisper  from  some 
one  of  the  employes  that  he  had  been  whipped 
and  kept  in  his  cell  for  not  completing  his 
task  of  work  the  day  before.  Fairbanks,  who 
usually  led  the  worship  in  the  chapel,  not 
being  present,  I  was  requested  to  conduct  the 
worship.  I  did  so,  and  preached  to  the 
assembled  convicts.  I  had  this  observation 
whilst  there :  that  Fairbanks  was  the  leader 
of  worship,  and  Julett  Miles  the  house  maid. 
The  Negro  stealers  were,  by  the  keeper  him- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  145 

self,  adjudged  as  having  the  highest  measure 
of  piety,  and  therefore  given  the  posts  of 
trust. 

The  next  morning  we  were  privileged  to 
see  Fairbanks  for  a  short  time.  Calvin  Fair- 
banks was  a  native  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
He  had  been  sentenced  to  twenty  years  im- 
prisonment for  aiding  slaves  to  escape.  He 
remained  in  prison  twelve  years.  During  the 
war,  in  the  absence  of  the  Governor,  he  was 
pardoned  by  the  Lieutenant-Governor.  He 
is  now  living  in  his  native  State,  honored  and 
loved. 

After  seeing  Fairbanks  we  had  another  in- 
terview with  "Julett."  I  had  procured  for  her 
a  pair  of  spectacles  and  a  New  Testament, 
with  large  type.  Giving  these  to  her,  we 
bade  her  farewell  for  all  time. 

Not  long  after  this  she  died, — disease  said 
to  have  been  of  the  heart.  Thousands  of 
slave-mothers  have  died  with  broken  hearts, 
whilst  political  parties  catered  to  the  slave- 
master,  and  professing  Christians  heeded  not 
the  wailings  of  the  bereaved.  Is  poor,  de- 
praved humanity  any  better  now?  Are  not 
political  parties  as  servile  before  the  Rum 
Power,  as    they  were  fifty  years  ago    before 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  Slave  Power?  Are  not  the  many  pro- 
fessing Christians  as  indifferent  to  the  weep- 
ings of  the  Rachels,  who  refuse  to  be  com- 
forted because  their  children  and  husbands 
are  not? 

My  wife  and  three  of  our  children  returned 
to  our  home  in  Madison  County.  I  took 
Laura,  our  eldest  child,  and  went  on  to  Wor- 
cester, Mass.,  to  attend  an  annual  meeting  of 
the  American  Missionary  Association. 

Immediately  after  the  meeting  of  the 
Association,  I  commenced  the  work  of  solicit- 
ing funds  with  which  to  procure  lands  and 
erect  buildings  for  Berea  College.  A  few 
subscriptions  were  secured  at  Worcester. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Lewis  Tappan,  a 
request  came  to  me  from  Henry  Ward 
Beecher,  pastor  of  the  Plymouth  Church, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  to  come  to  that  church  and 
present  the  claims  of  Berea  College.  This 
was  at  the  time  of  the  John  Brown  raid  in 
Western  Virginia.  The  country  was  in  a 
state  of  intense  excitement. 

In  my  address  before  the  church  I  said, 
"We  want  more  John  Browns;  not  in  manner 
of  action,  but  in  spirit  of  consecration;  not  to 
go    with  carnal  weapons,  but  with    spiritual; 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  147 

men  who,  with  Bibles  in  their  hands,  and  tears 
in  their  eyes,  will  beseech  men  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God.  Give  us  such  men,"  I  said, 
"and  we  may  yet  save  the  South."  My 
words  were  carefully  reported  and  published 
in  the  N.  Y.  Tribune,  The  Louisville 
Courier,  then  conducted  by  Geo.  D.  Prentiss, 
garbled  my  words  and  misrepresented  my 
real  attitude  by  saying,  "John  G.  Fee  is  in 
Beecher's  church,  calling  for  more  John 
Browns." 

These  words  were  copied  by  the  Lexington 
Observer,  published  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  and 
by  the  Mountain  Democrat,  published  in 
Richmond,  Ky.  To  this  first  misrepresenta- 
tion was  added  a  straight-out  falsehood — that 
"at  Cogar's  landing  was  found  a  box  of 
Sharp's  rifles  directed  to  John  G.  Fee." 
These  falsehoods,  added  to  the  consciousness 
that  men  were  sleeping  over  a  magazine,  the 
outraged  feelings  of  thousands,  were  enough 
to  alarm  the  slave  power.  Speedily  were 
gathered  into  Richmond,  the  county  seat  of 
this  county,  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men — so 
reported  at  the  time.  These  pledged  them- 
selves to  the  removal  of  John  G.  Fee,  J.  A.  R. 
Rogers,  and  their    co-laborers,  "peaceably   if 


148  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

they  could,  forcibly  if  they  must."  A  committee 
of  sixty-five,  composed  of  the  "wealthiest"' 
and  "most  respectable"  citizens  of  the  county, 
was  commissioned  to  visit  Berea  and  deliver 
the  demand  of  those  who  had  decided  to  take 
into  their  control  the  liberty  of  white  men,  as 
well  as  that  of  black  men. 

I  had  not  yet  returned  from  my  trip  east- 
ward. The  committee,  on  the  23rd  day  of 
Dec,  1859,  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Bro. 
Rogers,  then  principal  of  the  school.  The 
leader  of  the  clan  delivered  to  Bro.  Rogers  a 
document,  demanding  in  the  name  of  the  com- 
mittee, that  he  should  leave  the  State  within 
ten  days.  He  attempted  to  reason  with  the 
committee,  setting  forth  his  claims  as  a  law- 
abiding  citizen,  to  the  undisturbed  exercise  of 
his  rights.  The  committee  turned  abruptly 
away,  and  delivered  a  like  demand  to  ten 
other  families,  most  of  whom  were  native 
Kentuckians.  These  thus  warned  to  leave 
the  State,  and  others  interested  in  the  work 
of  building  up  the  school  and  church,  met  to- 
gether for  prayer  and  deliberation. 

These  friends  decided  at  once  to  make 
their  appeal  to  the  Governor  of  the  State,  for 
protection.     This  they  did,  in  the  form  of  a 


JOHN  Q.  FEE,  149 

short  address,  borne  by  two  of  their  number 
to  the  Governor,  setting  forth  their  obedience 
to  law,  and  their  devotion  to  the  highest  in- 
terests of  society,  and  as  such  asked  for  pro- 
tection. The  Governor  replied  that  the 
public  mind  was  deeply  moved  by  the  events 
in  Virginia,  and  that  he  could  not  engage  to 
protect  them  from  their  fellow  citizens,  who 
had  resolved  that  they  must  go.  Many  of 
these  thus  threatened  saw  that  they  must 
yield  before  an  overwhelming  force. 

After  committing  themselves  to  God  in 
humble  prayer,  most  of  these  thus  warned 
retired  from  the  State,  believing  that  "God 
would  make  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him." 

At  this  time  I  was  on  my  way  home  from 
New  York.  Friends  at  Berea  importuned 
my  wife  to  go  and  meet  me,  if  possible,  and 
tell  me  not  to  attempt  to  come  home  now,  for 
men  were  waylaying  me  at  three  different 
places.  Along  with  my  daughter  Laura  I 
met  my  wife  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  next 
day  we  met  the  exiles  from  Berea.  It  was 
deemed  wise  now  to  hold  meetings  in 
Cincinnati.  From  this  place  we  went  to  an 
appointment,  previously  made  for  me,  in 
Bethesda  church-house,  in    Bracken    County. 


150  AUTOBIOGRAPHY   OF 

Ky.  Here,  whilst  in  the  stand  preaching, 
some  of  my  exiled  children,  not  previously 
seen  for  months,  came  into  the  church-house. 
With  these  came  other  exiles.  Among  them 
was  John  G.  Hanson  and  family. 

The  Monday  following  this  meeting  was 
county  court  day  in  Bracken  County.  Already 
Bro.  Jas.  S.  Davis  had  been  driven  from  the 
church  in  Lewis  County.  J.  M.  Mallett,  a 
teacher  in  the  school  at  Bethesda,  had  been 
mobbed  and  driven  out  of  Germantown, 
Bracken  County.  In  sympathy  with  the  slave 
power,  public  feeling  was  at  white  heat.  It 
was  estimated  that  800  people  gathered  on  that 
county  court  day  at  Brooksville,  the  county 
seat  of  Bracken  County.  A  special  meeting 
was  called.  Inflammatory  speeches  were 
made,  referring  to  the  John  Brown  raid  in 
Virginia,  the  expulsion  of  Abolitionists  from 
Berea,  in  Madison  County,  and  from  the 
"Abolition"  church  in  Lewis  County,  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  "Abolition"  teacher  in 
Bracken  County;  and  now  it  was  claimed  that 
the  security  of  property  and  peace  of  society 
demanded  that  John  G.  Fee,  John  G.  Hanson, 
and  others  associated  with  them,  be  not 
allowed    to  tarry,  even    for    a   short   time,  in 


JOHN  G.  FEE,  151 

Bracken  County,  their  native  county.  Such 
a  resolve  against  men  unconvicted  of  any 
crime,  present  or  past,  and  now  in  their  native 
county,  in  the  midst  of  relatives  and  life-long 
acquaintances,  was  as  dastardly  as  it  was  vile. 
But  the  slave  power  was  in  its  very  nature 
one  of  oppression  and  outrage;  and  the  great 
mass  of  the  non-slave-owners  had  become 
servile;  and,  though  not  slave-owners,  had 
consented  to  be  slaveholders,  and  joined  with 
or  consented  to  the  demand  of  the  slave- 
owners. A  committee  of  sixty-two  men,  of 
'•high  standing,"  was  appointed  to  warn  John 
G.  Fee,  John  G.  Hanson  and  others  associated, 
to  leave  the  county,  "peaceably  if  they  would, 
forcibly  if  they  must."  On  the  day  appointed, 
the  committee  of  sixty-two  rode  up  to  the 
yard  fence  in  front  of  the  dwelling-house  of 
Vincent  Hamilton,  my  father-in-law,  where 
with  my  wife  and  children  I  was  then  stop- 
ping. These  men  then  sent  in  a  request  that 
I  come  out.  I  did  so,  and  listened  to  their 
resolutions.  The  committee  then  demanded 
from  me  a  reply.  I  said,  as  my  custom  was 
on  such  occasions,  "I  make  no  pledges  to 
surrender  God-given  and  constitutional  rights 
to  any  man  or  set  of  men.      If  I  shall  be  con- 


152  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

victed  of  crime,  before  an  impartial  jury, 
then  I  will  submit  to  adequate  punishment." 
I  then  proceeded  with  further  defense  of  my 
claim  to  citizenship  and  free  speech,  when  the 
captain  of  the  band  ordered,  "Forward, 
march." 

One  of  these  men  I  took  by  the  arm.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature. 
In  his  house  my  wife,  in  girlhood  days,  had 
boarded  whilst  attending  school.  With  his 
sons  I  had  studied  in  the  school-room  and 
played  on  the  playground.  This  man  was 
then  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  "church"  at 
Sharon  church-house,  where  my  wife  and  I, 
years  previously,  had  made  profession  of 
faith  in  Christ,  and  from  the  hands  of  this 
man  we  had  received  the  emblems  of  the 
broken  body  and  shed  blood  of  our  Lord.  I 
referred  to  these  things,  and  said  to  him,  "Is 
this  the  treatment  that  we,  convicted  of  no 
crime,  should  expect  from  one  who  has  known 
us  from  childhood,  with  whom  we  have  lived 
as  neighbors,  and  who  is  now  an  office-bearer 
in  a  professedly  Christian  church?"  He  re- 
plied, "It  is  not  worth  while  for  us  to  talk,"  and 
rode  off  in  pursuit  of  the  committee-men. 
These  committee-men  served  a  like  notice 
upon  J.  G.  Hanson  and  others. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  153 

At  first  I  thought  I  would  not  go  from 
Bracken  County,  though  it  was  not  then  my 
home.  I  had  so  expressed  myself.  Two 
members  of  the  church  there,  John  D.  Gregg 
and  John  Humlong,  men  whose  courage, 
fidelity  and  piety  perhaps  no  man  questioned, 
said,  "Our  first  impulse  was  to  take  our  rifles 
and  stand  with  you;  but  other  friends  warned 
to  leave  have  decided  to  go,  and  we  find  that 
we  will  be  utterly  overwhelmed  by  the  oppos- 
ing power,  and  if  you  stay  we  shall  all  be 
driven  away."  My  father-in-law  made  the 
same  remark.  This  put  a  new  phase  on  the 
issue.  I  might  peril  my  own  home,  and  had 
done  so.  I  might  not  peril  the  home  of  an- 
other, especially  when  he  had  expressed  his 
fear.  A  day  of  fasting  and  prayer  was  ap- 
pointed, and  a  meeting  of  brethren  and  sisters 
in  Christ  was  held  at  the  church-house.  The 
conclusion  was,  "There  is  now  such  a  reign 
of  terror  all  over  the  State  that  you  cannot 
get  a  hearing  anywhere  in  the  State."  The 
same  was  the  response  from  friends  in  Mad- 
ison County.  Thus  persecuted,  the  admoni- 
tion seemed  pertinent,  "When  they  persecute 
you  in  this  city,  flee  ye  into  another."  I  said, 
"It  is  possible  I  cannot  reach  my  own  home, 


154  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  could  not  get  the  friends  together,  even  if 
there;  but 'tis  a  time  not  to  be  silent."  There- 
fore, John  G.  Hanson,  myself  and  others,  re- 
tired with  our  families  for  a  time  to  the  North 
and  took  up  our  abode  in  the  suburbs  of  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

Notwithstanding  the  intense  excitement  in 
the  country,  my  wife  believed  she  could  get 
back  to  our  home  and  get  out  our  household 
goods.  Accordingly,  taking  a  carriage  and 
our  eldest  son,  then  ten  years  old,  she  started, 
and  on  the  third  day,  after  overcoming  severe 
difficulties,  reached  her  home.  She  boxed  up 
our  goods,  shipped  them  to  Cincinnati,  and 
returned  to  her  father's  house.  From  thence, 
with  her  children,  she  came  to  me,  into  a 
house  I  had  secured  near  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Soon  after  this  my  youngest  son,  Tappan, 
then  four  years  old,  from  exposure  in  the 
exodus  in  mid-winter,  took  a  cold,  which  cul- 
minated in  diphtheria  and  death.  This  was 
an  hour  of  great  sadness.  With  the  impres- 
sion that  I  would  yet  return  to  my  fields  of 
labor  in  Kentucky,  and  as  Joseph  requested 
that  his  bones  be  taken  back  to  Canaan,  so 
with  this  Scripture  in  my  mind,  I  decided  to 
carry  back  the   body  of  my  dear  boy,  "bone 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  155 

of  my  bone,  and  flesh  of  my  flesh,"  and  thus 
strengthen  my  purpose  to  return,  and  my 
claim  upon  this,  my  native  soil  and  field  of 
labor,  chosen  in  sacred  covenant  years  pre- 
viously. In  great  sorrow  I  brought  the  dear 
form  and  buried  it  in  the  little  graveyard  ad- 
joining Bethesda  church-house — a  place  ever 
dear  to  me. 

After  the  interment  of  the  dear  body  we  re- 
turned to  Ohio.  A  few  weeks  later  my  wife 
and  I  returned  to  Bracken  County,  Ky.,  bring- 
ing with  us  head  and  foot  stones  with  which 
to  mark  the  resting-place  of  our  dear  boy. 

Soon  after  leaving  the  boat  that  landed  us 
at  the  town  of  Augusta,  I  was  surrounded  by 
a  mob,  a  gathering  of  citizens,  many  of  whom 
considered  themselves  respectable  people; 
and  for  a  time  I  was  not  allowed  to  proceed 
farther.  The  only  cause  of  this  detention 
was  mere  hostility  to  me  as  a  known  Aboli- 
tionist. I  had  been  born  and  reared  in  that 
county,  and  had  preached  to  the  people  at 
Bethesda  most  of  the  ten  preceding  years. 
No  man  could  prefer  a  charge  of  crime,  and 
the  object  of  my  visit  was  humane  and  Chris- 
tian. Detention  under  such  circumstances 
was  an  outrage  too  gross;  and  after  a  time  I 


156  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

was  allowed  to  go  on  my  way.  I  visited  the 
grave  of  my  child,  preached  on  Lord's  day, 
and,  after  a  day  or  two,  returned  to  my 
family,  then  in  Ohio. 

The  unfinished  work  on  my  hands  was  the 
collection  of  money  with  which  to  pay  for  the 
land  previously  bought,  as  a  site  for  Berea 
College.  This  money  I  succeeded  in  raising, 
and  paid  for  the  land  on  which  most  of  the 
buildings  of  Berea  College  now  stand. 

By  this  time  the  rebellion  became  imminent. 
The  enmity  on  the  part  of  many  so-called 
Union  men  was  more  intense  against  Aboli- 
tionists than  against  rebels  themselves.  By 
many  undiscerning  men,  the  Abolitionists 
were  charged  with  bringing  on  the  war — - 
precipitating  the  great  calamit}'.  This  charge 
was  as  senseless  as  that  of  those  who,  with 
Ingersoll,  charge  Christianity  with  the  perse- 
cutions waged  by  paganism  and  the  papacy. 
Nevertheless,  passion  raged.  The  most  that 
could  be  done  was  still  to  call  upon  the  nation 
to  obey  God  and  "let  the  oppressed  go  free"; 
— remove  slavery,  the  festering  cause.  This, 
neither  political  party  then  intended  to  do. 
The  cry  on  both  sides  was,  "a  white  man's 
war" — "let    the    nigger   stay    where    he    is." 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  157 

Even  Abraham  Lincoln  then  said,  "Let  us 
save  the  Union,  slavery  or  no  slavery." 

The  Bull  Run  defeat  came,  and  one  reverse 
after  another.  The  "before  breakfast  spell" 
of  Wm.  H.  Seward  lasted  months  and  years. 
Slowly  the  people  began  to  think  that  they 
must  obey  God,  must  "break  every  yoke  and 
let  the  oppressed  go  free"; — that  it  was  folly 
to  attempt  to  conquer  a  people  in  their  own 
territory  and  in  their  own  fastnesses,  without 
a  vastly  superior  force.  John  C.  Fremont  had 
the  sagacity  to  see  this  and  act  upon  it.  He 
made  a  proclamation  of  freedom  to  slaves  in 
his  department.  The  President  of  the  nation, 
as  commander-in-chief,  revoked  the  proclama- 
tion as  premature.  The  step  taken  by 
Fremont  was  in  the  right  direction;  and  one 
from  which  the  heart  and  judgment  of  the 
discerning  part  of  the  nation  did  not  go  back. 
Some  of  us  thought  we  saw  in  this  "the  be- 
ginning of  the  end" — that  blood  and  treasure 
was  not  henceforth  to  be  spent  in  vain. 

Physical  disability  at  this  time  forbade  my 
entering  the  army  and  bearing  arms.  I  also 
had  a  conviction  that  there  must  be  a  change 
of  public  sentiment  before  there  would  be  a 
vigorous  change  of  tactics;  and  that  therefore 

II 


158  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

my  work  was  moral  rather  than  physical;  and 
that  I  must  give  myself  to  this  in  the  most 
effective  way — must  do  what  I  could  to 
change  public  sentiment  in  free  and  slave 
States. 

After  some  months  I  said  to  my  wife,  "Let 
us  go  out  into  Kentucky  on  a  tour  of  inspec- 
tion and  see  for  ourselves  the  actual  con- 
dition of  society  there."  We  came  to  Berea. 
We  found  John  Morgan  raiding  the  country, 
and  society  in  a  turmoil:  still  we  found  a  few 
friends,  natives  of  the  State,  who  were  here, 
and  not  wholly  discouraged.  We  decided 
to  go  back,  gather  up  our  children,  and  come 
out  to  Berea  and  resume  our  previously- 
chosen,  and,  in  purpose,  never  relinquished 
work. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  161 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Effort  to  Get  Back. — Battle  at  Richmond,  Ky. — Again 
Mobbed  at  Augusta,  Ky. — Mobbed  at  Washington, 
Ky. — Return  of  my  Wife  to  Berea.-^-Her  Stay  There. 
— Return  to  the  Border. — Stay  at  Parker's  Academy. 
— Return  to  Berea. — Resumption  of  the  Work. — 
Moved  to  go  to  Camp  Nelson. — My  Work  There. 

We  came  up  to  Bracken  County,  and  my 
wife,  taking  her  horse  and  carriage,  took  the 
two  eldest  children  and  started  across  the 
country  for  Berea.  I  took  the  younger  son 
and  started  around  by  Cincinnati,  that  I  might 
there  arrange  for  the  publication  of  another 
anti-slavery  tract,  and  also  ship  our  household 
goods  back  to  Berea.  I  found  that  our  goods 
could  not  then  be  shipped.  The  government 
had  the  entire  use  of  the  railroad  in  shipping 
munitions  of  war.  My  son  and  I  got  as  far  as 
Richmond,  Kyr.  There  I  engaged  a  single 
horse  on  condition  that  I  would  not  take  the 
horse  into  rebel  lines.  We  mounted  the 
horse, — Howard  behind  me,  and  came  seven 
miles  toward  our  home. 


162  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

We  there  met  the  Union  forces  retreating 
before  the  advance  of  Kirby  Smith's  invading 
army.  Some  Union  troops  were  gathered  at 
and  near  to  Richmond.  These  resisted  the 
approach  of  the  rebel  army,  but  were  over- 
powered and  fell  back  to  Richmond,  thence  to 
Lexington,  and  afterwards  dispersed  in  vari- 
ous directions.  I  fell  back  with  the  Union 
forces  to  Lexington,  and  from  thence  to 
Bracken  County.  There  I  left  my  son  How- 
ard, then  eleven  years  old,  with  his  grand- 
father. I  went  on  to  Augusta,  a  town  on  the 
Ohio  river,  intending,  if  possible,  to  get 
around  to  my  wife  and  the  other  children, 
then  at  Berea. 

Whilst  waiting  on  the  wharf  for  the  down 
packet  I  was  there  seized  by  a  mob  and 
brought  up  into  the  town  and  taken  into  the 
office  of  Dr.  Josh  Bradford,  a  man  who  pro- 
fessed to  be  a  Union  man,  and  was  then  help- 
ing to  raise  a  regiment  of  men.  These  pro- 
fessedly Union  men  hated  Abolitionists  more 
than  they  did  the  rebels.  They  demanded 
that  I  pledge  to  leave  the  State  and  never 
come  back  again.  I  said,  "I  make  no  pledges 
to  men."  A  great  crowd  was  outside.  Brad- 
ford, a  relative  on  my  father's  side,  went  out, 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  163 

and  soon  returned,  and  calling  me  by  name, 
said,  "We  are  going  to  put  you  across  the 
river,  and  if  you  come  back  again  I  will  hang 
you  if  it  be  the  last  act  of  my  life."  I  said, 
"Do  your  duty,  and  I  will  try  to  do  mine." 
Eight  of  the  company  took  me  to  a  flat  boat, 
which  they  had  in  readiness.  They  suffered 
no  others  to  get  into  the  boat.  As  the  crowd 
turned  away  I  heard  the  leader  say,  "We  will 
whip  him  like  hell."  They  started  off  for 
other  boats, — skiffs.  The  eight  men  put  me 
across  the  river.  As  the  boat  struck  the 
shore  on  the  Ohio  side  I  stepped  on  to  the  shore, 
and  seeing  the  rabble  as  pursuers  lower  down 
the  river,  I  walked  quickly  up  the  bank,  and 
seeing  a  cornfield  before  me  leaped  the  fence 
and  was  soon  out  of  sight  of  pursuers.  I 
could  hear  the  men  who  were  seeking  for  me 
passing  up  and  down  the  banks.  I  passed 
across  the  field  and  ascended  the  hill  rising 
from  the  banks  on  the  Ohio  side.  I  sat 
down.     It  was  now  the  month  of  August. 

The  moon  was  full,  and  shone  brightly  on 
"Olimba's  silver  wave."  Over  on  the  oppo- 
site side  was  the  town  of  Augusta.  There 
stood  the  old  college  building,  where  for  years 
I  had   pursued   the  early  part   of    my  college 


164  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

course.  There,  too,  was  the  little  brick  build- 
ing where  mv  wife,  boarding  with  her  aunt, 
had  spent  part  of  her  early  school  days.  I 
said,  Why  am  I  thus  an  exile,  and  hunted  like 
a  wild  beast?  I  have  injured  no  man.  I  have 
violated  no  law.  My  only  offense  is  that  I 
have  plead  for  the  slave,  and  ask  that  men 
obey  the  command  of  their  Lord,  "Do  unto 
men  as  ye  would  that  they  do  unto  you."  I 
thought  of  my  wife  and  children  far  in  the 
interior  of  the  State,  in  the  midst  of  rebel 
forces,  and  there  without  bread  to  eat  or  a 
bed  on  which  to  sleep,  only  as  others  might 
share  with  them. 

I  did  not  dare  compare  myself  with  our 
Lord;  but  I  thought  of  him  in  Nazareth, 
where  those  who  were  relatives,  and  knew 
him  from  childhood,  sought  to  kill  him, — dash 
him  headlong  over  a  deadly  precipice. 

I  sat  there  thinking  of  the  slave-father,  sun- 
dered far  from  his  wife  and  children,  with  no 
hope  of  ever  seeing  them  again.  I  then  said, 
A  loving  Father  will  overrule  all  this  for 
good.  I  shall  be  the  better  prepared  for  my 
work,  and  by  these  and  like  events  moral 
forces  will  be  prepared  by  which  good  will 
break  this  system  of  iniquity  to  pieces  as  a 
potter's  vessel  is  broken. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  165 

At  early  dawn  I  left  the  spot  of  command- 
ing view,  and  the  place  of  mingled  sorrow  and 
joy,  and  went  down  to  the  house  of  a  friend, 
and  the  mother  of  one  who  had  been  with  me 
as  college  mate.  With  this  mother  and  fam- 
ily I  took  breakfast.  By  first  down  boat  I 
went  down  to  Covington,  Ky.,  and  out  into 
Lew.  Wallace's  camp.  He  had  here  the 
command  of  Union  forces  by  which  to  pre- 
vent the  advance  of  Kirby  Smith's  army  on 
to  Cincinnati.  After  a  few  days  I  went  to 
Oberlin,  Ohio,  that  I  might  there  attend  a 
meeting  of  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation. 

From  Oberlin  I  came  back  to  Bracken 
County,  Ky.,  and  to  the  house  of  my  father- 
in-law.  Taking  my  son,  Howard,  I  came  up 
to  Washington,  Mason  County,  hoping  there 
to  take  the  stage  coach.  We  went  to  the  house 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister  who  had  often 
been  at  my  father's  house,  and  with  whom  I 
had  often  broken  bread  around  the  table  of 
our  Lord.  This  man  was  not  at  home  when 
we  first  went  to  his  house,  and  stage  time 
having  not  yet  come,  we  tarried. 

When  the  minister  arrived  I  saw  I  was  not 
a  welcome  guest.     He  soon  said,  "I  am  sorry 


166  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

you  are  here"; and  then  turning  said,  "Do  you 
see  those  men  gathering?"  I  had  not  noticed 
them.  He  added,  "They  do  not  intend  to  let 
you  pass."  Soon  the  men  were  in  his  yard 
and  had  surrounded  me.  The  preacher  said, 
"Some  of  these  men  are  members  of  my 
church,  They  will  not  hurt  you."  Resistance 
was  useless,— -escape  impossible.  We  were 
surrounded  and  borne  along  down  into  the 
town.  The  crowd  continued  to  increase,  and 
it  became  manifest  they  could  not  afford  to 
stay  there  all  night.  I  had  committed  no 
breach  of  the  peace;  there  could  be  no  legal 
action  against  me,  and  the  question  arose, 
"What  shall  we  do  with  him?"  The  decision 
was,  "Take  him  back  to  Augusta."  At  that 
place  I  had  been  previously  in  the  hands  of 
two  different  mobs;  and  I  had  no  desire  to  be 
hauled  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  at  that  hour  of 
night,  in  order  to  revisit  the  town  of  Augusta. 
The  captain  of  the  crowd  ordered  his  slave 
man  to  go  out  to  his  farm  and  bring  horse  and 
spring  wagon.  Whether  by  design  or  other- 
wise, the  slave  was  a  long  time  gone.  In  the 
meantime  young  B.,  the  captain  of  the  crowd, 
was  boasting  his  courage  at  the  bar  of  the 
hotel  near  b}\  At  length  the  team  came,  and 
further  preparations  were  being  made. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  167 

All  this  while  my  then  little  son  was  mov- 
ing to  and  fro  in  the  crowd,  hearing  each 
word  and  watching  each  action.  This  quiet 
vigilance,  together  with  the  manifest  injustice 
to  me,  touched  the  sympathy  and  aroused  the 
indignation  of  a  noble  man  who  stood  as  a 
spectator.  He  occupied  a  high  social  position, 
and  yet  lives,  and  loves  to  inquire  about  that 
"little  boy."  He  determined  to  protect  the 
boy  and  save  me  from  the  proposed  outrage. 
He  communicated  his  purpose  to  three  others 
who  felt  as  he  did,  and  they  agreed  to  aid 
him.  When  the  team  was  ready,  he  and  his 
men  offered  their  service  to  the  captain,  and 
stepped  into  the  wagon.  In  a  few  moments 
we  were  off  and  the  team  moving  rapidly  on. 

When  the  team  came  to  the  road  leading  off 
to  Augusta,  friend  H.  took  hold  of  the 
lines  and  said,  "No!  let's  take  him  to  Mays- 
ville  and  deliver  him  up  to  Judge  C." 

This,  to  the  then  drunken  owner  of  the 
team,  seemed  like  "business."  He  yielded. 
Our  friend  kept  the  reins,  and  soon  we  were 
in  Maysville,  and  in  the  room  of  Judge  C. 
The  Judge,  having  over  me  no  jurisdiction, 
after  a  friendly  shake  hands  with  me  took  the 
young  drunken  man  aside  and  told  him  what 


168  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

might  be  the  serious  consequences  of  his 
action.  I  and  my  son  tendered  our  friend  H. 
our  thanks  for  his  kind  interposition,  and  we 
walked  down  the  street,  and  crossed  over  the 
river  to  a  quiet  hotel  in  the  town  opposite, 
slept  well,  arose  in  the  morning,  took  break- 
fast, and  then  returned  to  Maysville,  on  the 
Kentucky  side,  and  conferred  with  friends.  I 
was  assured  that  I  could  not  travel  in  Ken- 
tucky at  that  juncture,  and  that  my  family  was 
safer  without  me  than  with  me,  and  that  what 
Union  men  were  left  about  Berea,  were  either 
seized  and  paroled,  or  carried  off  into  rebel 
States.  If  any  escaped  these  conscriptions, 
they  were  so  only  as  they  were  for  the  time 
hid  in  the  caves  and  the  mountains.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  that  I  tarry  until  the 
"cloud  should  rise." 

Ten  weeks  had  elapsed  since  I  had  seen  my 
wife  and  the  two  eldest  children.  These 
were  weeks  of  commotion,  anxiety  and  peril. 
As  previously  stated,  when  I  started  around 
by  Cincinnati,  my  wife,  with  her  two  children, 
had  started  in  her  private  carriage  across  the 
country  for  our  inland  home.  The  country 
at  that  time  was  full  of  soldiers,  Union  and 
Rebel.     The  first  day  she  came  as  far  as  five 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  169 

miles  south  of  Blue  Licks,  a  noted  "watering- 
place."  The  next  day,  after  long  delays,  be- 
cause of  soldiery  and  government  teams,  she 
came  to  a  country  store  and  "tavern" — eight- 
een miles  from  her  home.  The  next  morning, 
after  securing  a  small  supply  of  groceries  for 
a  destitute  home  in  a  destitute  region,  she 
started  for  home.  On  coming  through  Rich- 
mond,  our  county  seat,  the  people,  men  and 
women,  expressed  surprise  at  seeing  a  woman 
driving  along  the  highway.  She  had  not  pro- 
ceeded more  than  three  miles  when  she  was 
halted  by  Union  pickets,  who  at  first  sus- 
pected she  might  be  a  rebel  spy,  conveying 
news  to  Kirby  Smith's  men,  who  were  already 
near  to  her  home.  Her  frank  manner,  her 
commendation  of  "eternal  vigilance  as  the 
price  of  liberty,"  her  story  of  who  she  was 
and  where  she  was  going,  together  with  the 
Union  flag  painted  on  her  carriage,  and  mani- 
festly, not  recently,  painted  for  effect,  but  of 
previous  design — all  these  considerations  con- 
strained the  officer  to  say,  "Let  her  go;  she  is 
all  right."  She  came  to  her  humble  home,  con- 
structed a  bedstead,  filled  a  tick  with  straw, 
borrowed  a  blanket  to  sleep  under,  lay  down 
with  her    two  children   and    slept.      The  next 


168  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

might  be  the  serious  consequences  of  his 
action.  I  and  my  son  tendered  our  friend  H. 
our  thanks  for  his  kind  interposition,  and  we 
walked  down  the  street,  and  crossed  over  the 
river  to  a  quiet  hotel  in  the  town  opposite, 
slept  well,  arose  in  the  morning,  took  break- 
fast, and  then  returned  to  Maysville,  on  the 
Kentucky  side,  and  conferred  with  friends.  I 
was  assured  that  I  could  not  travel  in  Ken- 
tucky at  that  juncture,  and  that  my  family  was 
safer  without  me  than  with  me,  and  that  what 
Union  men  were  left  about  Berea,  were  either 
seized  and  paroled,  or  carried  off  into  rebel 
States.  If  any  escaped  these  conscriptions, 
they  were  so  only  as  they  were  for  the  time 
hid  in  the  caves  and  the  mountains.  It  seemed 
to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  that  I  tarry  until  the 
"cloud  should  rise." 

Ten  weeks  had  elapsed  since  I  had  seen  my 
wife  and  the  two  eldest  children.  These 
were  weeks  of  commotion,  anxiety  and  peril. 
As  previously  stated,  when  I  started  around 
by  Cincinnati,  my  wife,  with  her  two  children, 
had  started  in  her  private  carriage  across  the 
country  for  our  inland  home.  The  country 
at  that  time  was  full  of  soldiers,  Union  and 
Rebel.     The  first  day  she  came  as  far  as  five 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  169 

miles  south  of  Blue  Licks,  a  noted  "watering- 
place."  The  next  day,  after  long  delays,  be- 
cause of  soldiery  and  government  teams,  she 
came  to  a  country  store  and  "tavern" — eight- 
een miles  from  her  home.  The  next  morning, 
after  securing  a  small  supply  of  groceries  for 
a  destitute  home  in  a  destitute  region,  she 
started  for  home.  On  coming  through  Rich- 
mond,  our  county  seat,  the  people,  men  and 
women,  expressed  surprise  at  seeing  a  woman 
driving  along  the  highway.  She  had  not  pro- 
ceeded more  than  three  miles  when  she  was 
halted  by  Union  pickets,  who  at  first  sus- 
pected she  might  be  a  rebel  spy,  conveying 
news  to  Kirby  Smith's  men,  who  were  already 
near  to  her  home.  Her  frank  manner,  her 
commendation  of  "eternal  vigilance  as  the 
price  of  liberty,"  her  story  of  who  she  was 
and  where  she  was  going,  together  with  the 
Union  flag  painted  on  her  carriage,  and  mani- 
festly, not  recently,  painted  for  effect,  but  of 
previous  design — all  these  considerations  con- 
strained the  officer  to  say,  "Let  her  go;  she  is 
all  right."  She  came  to  her  humble  home,  con- 
structed a  bedstead,  filled  a  tick  with  straw, 
borrowed  a  blanket  to  sleep  under,  lay  down 
with  her    two  children  and    slept.     The  next 


170  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

day  whilst  out  hunting  up  some  simple  cook- 
ing utensils  which  two  years  previously  she 
had  distributed  among  neighbors,  rebel  sol- 
diers came  into  her  house,  took  her  borrowed 
blanket,  her  coarse  and  fine  comb,  her  better 
shoes  and  Burritt's  hat,  and  the  carriage  har- 
ness. The  horse  and  carriage  were  hid  in  the 
woods.  My  daughter  Laura  had  a  very  nice 
Union  flag  which  her  mother  had  made,  and 
with  this  a  set  of  silver  spoons  her  grand- 
father had  given  to  her;  these  she  had  hid  up 
in  the  eaves-trough.  These  the  rebels  did  not 
find;  so  the  present  loss  of  the  little  family 
was  not  great,  and  they  could  say  with  Col. 
Slack's  slave,  "Blessed  be  nothing;  I  has 
nothing  to  lose,  and  nothing  to  be  sorry  for." 
Thousands  of  Kirby  Smith's  men  were  then 
encamped  near  by.  With  some  other  women 
my  wife  went  to  the  encampment  to  see  the 
complexion  of  the  rebel  soldiery.  Whilst  sit- 
ting with  other  women  a  rebel  officer  rode  up, 
and  addressing  himself  politely,  inquired  of 
my  wife  for  her  home,  and  then  for  the  "poli- 
tics" of  the  region.  My  wife  said,  "My  home 
is  near  by;  and  as  for  politics,  we  are  for  the 
Union,  and  believe  slavery  is  wrong,  and  that 
the  rebels  are  fiohtintr  for  a  lost  cause."    The 


JOHN  G,  FEE  171 

officer  inquired,  "Madam,  ain't  you  fiom  the 
North?"  She  replied,  "No,  this  is  my  home 
and  my  native  State."  Again  he  inquired  in 
a  tone  derisive,  "Madam,  are  you  an  Aboli- 
tionist?" She  replied,  "I  am."  "Well,"  said 
he,  "I  have  seen  some  men  who  were  Abo- 
litionists, but  I  never  before  this  saw  a  woman 
who  was."  My  wife  then  asked,  "Why  are 
you  here  with  the  uniform  of  our  men  on 
you?"  He  had  a  Union  belt  on  him  with  U. 
S.  inverted.  He  replied,  "Madam,  don't  you 
see  that  is  S.  U.  —  Southern  Union?"  and  rode 
off.  Not  long  after  this  she  heard  the  can- 
non's roar  at  Perrysville.  Soon  this  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  retreating  rebel  army  with 
trains  of  wagons  laden  with  plunder,  and 
herds  of  lowing  cattle  famishing  for  the  want 
of  water. 

Three  rebel  officers  came  up  to  her  house 
and  asked  for  food.  My  wife  had  some  pota- 
toes, meal,  coarse  flour  and  milk.  She  gave 
to  them  bread  and  milk,  with  baked  potatoes. 
They  received  this  kindly,  and  were  very  re- 
spectful. Soon  after  they  were  gone  my  wife 
learned  that  some  rebel  soldiers  were  in  her 
potato  patch,  grabbling  her  potatoes. 

A  friend  who  had  occupied  the  house  for  a 


172  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

time,  left  for  her  a  small  plat  of  ground 
planted  with  potatoes.  Taking  her  son  Burritt 
with  her,  she  went  for  her  potatoes.  Something 
to  live  on  then  was  an  item  of  concern.  She 
came  to  the  fence  and  said,  "Men,  I  have  fed 
your  officers,  and  now  you  are  taking  the  last 
potato  I  have;  this  is  no  credit  to  you."  One 
young  fellow  looked  up  pertly  and  said, 
"Madam,  credit  has  gone  up  long  ago."  They 
filled  their  haversacks  and  went  on. 

Scenes  of  privation,  anxiety  and  toil  went 
on  from  day  to  day.  At  the  end  of  ten  weeks 
my  wife's  mother  came,  informing  her  where 
I  was,  and  helped  her  and  the  children  back 
to  the  border  of  the  State. 

In  Kentucky  society  was  in  turmoil.  There 
was  no  opportunity  for  consecutive  work. 
We  passed  over  into  Clermont  County,  Ohio, 
put  our  children  into  Parker's  Academy,  and 
tarried  there  some  months  ourselves,  and 
found  true  friends  whom  we  shall  ever  hold 
dear. 

After  a  few  months  the  government  began 
in  some  of  the  Gulf  States  the  work  of  en- 
listing colored  men.  I  then  began  to  have 
hope  of  a  speedy  and  successful  termination  of 
the  war.     I    had  from    the  beginning  of  the 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  173 

war  continuously  said,  "I  do  not  believe  we 
will  succeed  until  we  begin  enlisting  men  as 
men, — not  merely  white  men."  With  this 
dawning  light  I  said  to  my  wife,  "We  will  try 
it  again;  gather  our  children  and  go  to 
Berea."    To  this  place  we  came  in  1864. 

The  friends  previously  exiled  had  not  yet 
returned.  With  a  desire  to  keep  alive  the 
original  purpose,  and  to  resuscitate,  to  some 
extent,  the  school  previously  broken  up,  I 
gathered  together,  as  far  as  possible,  the  chil- 
dren of  the  few  sympathizing  families,  took 
charge  of  a  class  myself,  and  committed  the 
other  classes  to  my  wife  and  eldest  daughter. 

Soon  after  this  arrangement,  whilst  sitting 
in  my  study,  thinking  of  the  political  and 
social  condition  around  me,  these  words  came 
to  me  with  wonderful  force,  "Prepare  thy 
work  without,  and  make  it  fit  for  thyself  in 
the  field;  and  afterwards  build  thine  house." 
Prov.  24:  27.  I  did  not  remember  to  have 
seen  the  text  before;  but  of  course  I  had,  in 
general  reading,  though  at  that  moment  I  was 
not  reading  my  Bible.  The  text  came  to  me 
in  such  manner  and  with  such  force,  that  I 
could  not  but  regard  it  as  from  the  Spirit  of 
God;  and  therefore  a  call  to   the  work  indi- 


174  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

cated.  The  thing  indicated  to  me  was  this: 
Until  the  work  on  the  battlefield  shall  be  first 
settled,  there  will  be  no  permanency,  or 
marked  progress  in  your  work  here,  either  in 
school  or  church; — go  do  your  part.  That 
part,  as  I  then  believed,  was  moral,  religious; 
rather  than  physical, — the  actual  bearing  of 
arms.  I  had  hitherto  no  confidence  that  the 
government  would  succeed,  until  it  began  to 
"break  every  yoke  and  let  the  oppressed  go 
free";  until  it  began  to  enlist  men  as  men, — 
and  not  merely  as  white  men.  I  also  knew 
that  just  at  that  time  colored  men  were  being 
enlisted  in  Kentucky.  I  believed  I  knew  more 
about  the  movements  of  the  government  and 
the  feelings  of  the  people  North,  than  these 
colored  men  did,  and  that  there  were  reasons 
why  I  could  instruct,  comfort  and  encourage 
them, — reasons  why  they  would  hear  me,  and 
also  reasons  why  loyal  white  men  would  hear 
me. 

Without  counsel  from,  or  commission  from 
any  board,  I  immediately  prepared  to  go; 
took  my  eldest  son,  my  dear  Burritt,  then  liv- 
ing, and  on  the  next  Saturday  started  for 
Camp  Nelson,  thirty-five  miles  distant. 

I  found  there  two  regiments  of  colored  men, 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  175 

forming, — not  complete.  The  next  day,  Lord's 
day,  I  mingled  freely  with  these  colored  sol- 
diers and  their  officers;  and  at  night  preached 
to  a  large  assemblage  of  them.  This  was  to 
me,  and  to  many  of  these  men,  a  melting  oc- 
casion. We  saw  then,  in  its  first  unfolding, 
what  we  had  long  and  anxiously  prayed  for, — 
"the  beginning  of  the  end" — the  freedom  of 
men,  white  and  colored;  freedom  in  such 
manner  as  would  give  prestige  to  the  latter, 
and  sympathy  from  the  former. 

On  Monday  morning  I  went  to  the  office 
of  the  Quartermaster,  then  in  Camp  Nelson, 
Ky.,  to  secure,  if  possible,  a  place  for  relig- 
ious service  and  regular  preaching.  I  found 
the  Quartermaster  at  his  post, — a  live  man.  I 
told  him  who  I  was,  and  what  I  wanted.  He 
immediately  replied,  "I  know  you, — all  about 
you,  and  have  for  years.  My  home  is  Holden, 
Mass.  I  will  give  you  every  facility  I  can. 
But,"  said  he,  "we  want  teaching  for  these 
colored  men  as  well  as  preaching.  They,  es- 
pecially the  non-commissioned  officers,  need 
to  be  taught  to  write, — sign  their  names  to 
their  reports."  I  said,  "Furnish  me  a  house 
and  desks,  and  I  will  secure  teachers, — do  the 
work."     He  agreed  to  do  so.     I  then  went  to 

12 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  commandant  of  the  camp,  Gen.  S.  S.  Fry, 
whose  home  was  then  in  Danville,  Ky.  He 
was  and  is  a  Christian  gentleman.  He  gave 
to  the  proposed  work  his  hearty  endorsement; 
and  within  eight  days  Capt.  T.  E.  Hall,  who 
had  three  saw-mills  and  hands  "ad  libitum"  at 
his  command,  had  enclosed  a  school-room 
thirty  feet  wide  and  a  hundred  feet  long,  fur- 
nished with  writing  tables.  Teachers  were 
secured,  and  the  colored  soldiers  instructed. 

At  my  request  Edward  Harwood,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, forwarded  a  large  bell, — the  bell  that 
now  hangs  in  the  belfry  of  Howard  Hall, 
Berea.  This  was  speedily  mounted  on  a  der- 
rick, and  at  stated  hours  called  soldiers  to 
class,  and,  at  other  hours,  the  people  to  wor- 
ship. 

I  secured  instructors  for  these  men.  They 
were  intensely  eager  to  learn  how  to  make 
reports  and  write  their  names.  Gen.  Fry  was 
interested  in  this  help  to  his  soldiery,  and  oc- 
casionally by  his  personal  presence  and  words 
of  exhortation  encouraged  the  men  to  efforts 
of  perseverance.  There  was  now  no  fear 
that  these  men  would  write  passports  for  free- 
dom. They  were  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
long-prayed-for  boon. 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  177 

This  was  a  time  of  thrilling  interest  to  me. 
There  was  now  not  only  the  fair  prospect  that 
the  nation  would  be  delivered  from  the  perils 
of  a  wicked  rebellion,  but  with  this,  the  free- 
dom of  the  then  five  million  of  slaves.  These 
were  now,  by  the  demand  of  loyal  men,  and 
the  proclamation  of  the  nation's  chief  execu- 
tive, to  go  forth  as  free  men  and  free  women; 
— a  consummation  for  which  I,  in  common 
with  others,  had  long  prayed  and  labored. 

The  event  came  in  a  way  we  had  not  prayed 
for;  it  came  in  blood,  yet  in  a  way  of  indi- 
vidual and  national  peril  that  overcame  former 
antipathies  and  race  distinction,  and  engen- 
dered mutual  sympathies  that  nothing  short  of 
the  superabounding  grace  of  God, — another 
sheet  from  Heaven  to  bigoted  Peters, — could 
have  overcome. 

There  were  additional  thrills  of  interest  to 
me.  I  had  long  been  shunned,  through  fear 
of  others,  by  those  who  had  a  secret  sympathy 
with  me,  and  had  long  been  hated  and  perse- 
cuted by  others.  Now,  to  meet  the  benignant 
smiles  and  grateful  benedictions  of  colored 
men,  and  the  friendly,  hearty  grasp  of  hand 
by  loyal  white  men,  was  a  revelation  as  grate- 
ful as  new, — to  be   felt  but  not  described.     It 


178  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

was  also  a  providence  by  which  I  became  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  officials  and  privates, 
colored  and  white,  and  my  face  and  character 
known  to  thousands,  yet  in  the  State,  and  a 
providence  by  which  I  can  yet  do  good  to 
them  and  their  children.  Nor  should  any  one 
be  surprised  if,  from  associations  of  the  past,  I 
should  be  greatly  attached  to  that  beautiful 
spot,  Camp  Nelson;  the  cradle  of  liberty  to 
central  Kentucky.  There  the  thousands, 
men,  women  and  children,  received  their 
passports  from  government  officials,  into  that 
freedom  which  naturally  is  the  heritage  of  all 
men.  May  that  place,  as  well  as  Berea,  be  a 
fountain  of  good  to  the  State,  and  ever  free 
from  Rum,  Caste,  Sect  and  Secretism.  I 
wish  some  one,  by  his  or  her  means,  would 
lift  the  school  and  church  there  into  yet 
higher  efficiency. 

There  was  another  phase  of  the  work  at 
Camp  Nelson,  then  of  interest  to  me,  and  con- 
nected by  principle  and  effect  with  the  work 
at  Berea.  The  enlistment  of  colored  men  at 
Camp  Nelson  was  soon  followed  by  the  com- 
ing of  their  wives  and  children.  These  were 
at  first  driven  out  of  the  camp  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.     Thus   sent  back,  they  were  ex- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  179 

posed  to  the  cruelty  of  their  former  masters. 
I  saw  indignation  rising  in  the  hearts  and 
showing  itself  in  the  actions  of  the  colored 
soldiers.  I  went  to  the  officials  and  said  to 
them,  "This  driving  back  of  wives  and  chil- 
dren will  breed  mutiny  in  your  camp  unless 
you  desist."  The  reply  was,  "What  will  you 
do? — will  you  leave  the  women  and  chil- 
dren with  the  soldiers?  That  will  never  do." 
I  said,  "No;  I  would  draw  a  picket  line  and 
put  the  women  in  the  west  end  of  the  camp, 
which  is  abundantly  large  and  encircled  by 
Kentucky  river  and  cliffs  four  hundred 
feet  high.  Such  a  natural  fortification, 
high,  beautiful,  and  well-watered,  was  not 
anywhere  else  found  in  the  State."  "But," 
said  the  Quartermaster,  "I  can  do  noth- 
ing in  the  way  of  shelter  without  an  order 
from  the  Secretary  of  War."  I  replied,  "I 
know  Secretary  Chase  personally.  I  will  pre- 
pare a  paper  to  be  sent  to  his  care."  "Do  so," 
said  the  Quartermaster,  "and  I  will  sign  it." 
The  paper  was  forwarded.  Quickly  an  order 
came  from  Stanton,  the  Secretary  of  War,  for 
the  construction  of  buildings;  and  in  a  short 
time  the  Quartermaster  had  ninety-two  cot- 
tages erected  as  homes  for  families,  two  larger 


180  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

buildings  as  hospitals  for  sick  women  and 
children,  and  other  buildings  as  school-rooms 
and  offices,  boarding  hall,  and  dormitory  for 
teachers,  steward  and  family. 

Spending,  as  I  did,  a  Sabbath  in  a  neighbor- 
ing city,  I  saw  in  the  congregation  (colored) 
a  young  woman  of  light  complexion,  whose 
manner,  as  she  came  to  the  altar  to  partake  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  favorably  impressed  me. 
I  inquired  of  the  pastor  who  she  was.  He 
told  me  she  was  a  member  of  that  church, 
with  fair  education  and  good  parentage.  Im- 
mediately it  occurred  to  me  that  she  was  the 
woman  with  whom  to  test  the  caste  question 
among  the  teachers  at  Camp  Nelson,  and  set 
the  precedent  of  giving  positions  to  colored 
persons  as  fast  as  prepared  for  such.  Mon- 
day morning  I  called  on  her  parents  and  told 
to  them  my  wish  and  plan.  I  suggested  to 
them  and  the  daughter  what  might  be  the  op- 
position; but  such,  I  said,  would  be  un-Christ- 
like,  and  the  sooner  met  the  better,  and  that 
perhaps  the  daughter  was  "raised  up  for  a 
time  like  this."  They  consented  to  the  ar- 
rangement, and  on  Wednesday  the  young 
lady  was  at  the  office  of  the  school-building. 
Immediately  I  assigned  to  her  a   room  in  the 


JOHN  a.  FEE.  181 

dormitory,  and  put  her  in  charge  of  a  class  of 
pupils.  At  the  dinner  hour  I  gave  to  her  in 
the  common  dining-hall  a  chair  and  place  at 
the  table  at  which  I  presided.  The  presence 
of  this  young  lady  at  one  of  the  several  tables 
in  the  common  dining-hall,  produced  a  sensa- 
tion. A  chaplain  to  one  of  the  regiments, 
whose  home  was  down  in  Maine,  together 
with  some  army  officials  also  boarding  at  the 
hall,  protested  against  this  young  woman's 
eating  in  the  common  boarding-hall.  All  the 
lady  teachers  (white)  sent  there  by  the 
American  Missionary  Association  and  the 
Freedman's  Aid  Society,  refused,  with  two 
exceptions,  to  come  to  the  first  tables  whilst 
the  young  woman  was  eating.  She  was,  in 
person,  tidy,  modest,  comely.  It  is  just  to  say 
that  the  secretaries  of  the  American  Mission- 
ary Association  would  not  have  endorsed  the 
action  of  those  teachers,  who  thus  refused  to 
eat  at  the  common  table  with  such  a  teacher 
as  the  one  referred  to. 

A  major,  whose  home  was  in  Illinois,  and 
the  steward,  whose  home  was  in  the  same 
State,  came  to  me  and  suggested  that  I  re- 
move the  young  woman.  I  saw  the  moment 
for  decision  had  come,  and  in  a  quiet  manner 


182  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

said,  "I  will  suffer  my  right  arm  torn  from 
my  body  before  I  will  remove  the  young 
woman."  And  that  they  might  see  that  I  was 
not  arbitrary  in  my  decision,  I  said,  "The 
young  woman  is  fitted  for  her  position;  she  is 
modest  and  discreet;  she  is  a  Christian,  and 
as  such,  Christ's  representative.  What  I  do 
to  her  I  do  to  him."  Both  of  these  men  were 
professing  Christians,  and  one  of  them  a  local 
preacher,  at  home. 

The  steward  said  his  wife  would  not  give 
the  young  woman  a  plate.  I  replied,  "Then 
she  shall  have  mine,  and  I  will  have  another"; 
for  the  control  had  been  given  to  me,  and  I 
meant  to  keep  it,  and  use  it. 

That  one,  who  was  then  a  young  woman,  is 
now  the  wife  of  one  of  the  trustees  of  Berea 
College.  Events,  like  summer  clouds,  often 
cast  their  shadows  before  them. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  war,  for  some 
fifteen  months,  I  gave  most  of  my  time  and 
labor  to  the  work  in  Camp  Nelson,  Ky. 
Whilst  there  I  organized  a  school  and  gath- 
ered together  believers  into  a  church,  deliv- 
ered from  rum,  secretism  and  sect.  The 
church  and  school  remain  free  from  rum,  sect 
and  secretism  up  to  the  present  time.     I  saw 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  183 

then,  as  now,  the  importance  of  such  a  church 
and  school  in  that  central  part  of  the  State; 
in  che  midst  of  an  immense  colored  popula- 
tion, and  in  a  region  fertile  and  beautiful.  I 
tried  to  induce  others  to  buy  lands  there,  par- 
cel out  and  give  facilities  for  a  self-sustaining- 
community.  No  one  would  do  so.  My  own 
patrimony  was  spent.  By  my  wife  selling 
what  land  she  had  in  a  free  State  (where  there 
was  progress)  and  myself  borrowing  five 
hundred  dollars,  we  could  then  secure  there 
for  the  purpose  suggested,  130  acres  of  land. 
Knowing  that  the  investment  must  be  relative!)' 
and  largely  a  sinking  fund,  we  secured  the 
land,  and  divided  it  into  lots  and  small  tracts. 

Forty-two  families  have  now  their  own 
homes  there,  and  thus  give  home  patronage  to 
school  and  church.  The  Academy  has  107 
acres  of  land,  and  two  good  buildings.  A 
charter  has  been  secured  from  the  State 
Legislature  for  the  village  and  the  Academy. 
Some  man  or  woman  could  now  do  a  good 
work  there  by  building  up  a  good  industrial 
department. 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Return  to  Berea. — Resumption  of  the  Work. — The 
American  Missionary  Association. — Work  Denom- 
inational— Divisive. — Association  of  Ministers  and 
Churches. — Kentucky  Missionary  Association. — A 
Convention  of  Christians. — An  Address,  "Wherein 
We  Differ  from  the  Denominations." 

At  the  close  of  the  war  I  came  back  to 
Berea  and  gave  most  of  my  time  and  strength 
to  the  work  of  helping  to  build  up  the  school 
and  church  at  Berea.  This  work  has  been 
sheltered  and  prospered.  The  College  has 
ample  grounds,  good  buildings,  and  an  en- 
dowment of  a  hundred  and  six  thousand 
dollars.  Most  of  the  time  for  the  past  fifteen 
years  there  have  been  here  from  three  to  four 
hundred  pupils.  Of  these  not  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  go  out  each  year  to  take 
charge  of  as  many  schools.  These  teachers 
impart  the  sentiments  they  have  here  imbibed 
and  thus  become  a  leavening,  moulding  in- 
fluence throughout  the  land. 

The  church  here,  numbering  now  some 
two    hundred  and    twenty-three   members,  is 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  185 

the  one  church  of  the  place — now  as  from  the 
beginning,  in  the  year  1853,  undenominational 
and  unsectarian.  Here  those  converted  from 
the  world,  colored  and  white,  together  with 
those  who  once  were  Methodists,  Baptists, 
Presbyterians,  Congregationalists  or  Disci- 
ples, drop  their  denominational  and  divisive 
names,  unite  on  Christ,  and  thus  constitute 
the  one  church  of  the  place.  Hundreds  go 
out  from  this  place  as  one  in  Christ  to  carry 
this  gospel  of  love  and  unity  to  others. 

We  believe  that  God  by  his  Word  and 
Spirit  and  his  providence,  has  led  to  this 
unity,  as  it  existed  in  the  primitive  church. 
We  have  been  jealous  of,  and  have  repeatedly 
resisted  and  sloughed  off,  any  and  every 
denominational  or  ecclesiastical  encroachment 
that  might  in  any  wise  hinder  the  divine  plan. 
This  will  be  seen  from  further  efforts  and 
actions. 

The  American  Missionary  Association,  with 
which  I  had  been  for  many  years  associated, 
had  in  its  early  history  been  undenominational- 
In  the  year  1865  the  Association  was  adopted 
by  Congregationalists  as  an  agency  and  society 
of  that  denomination,  and  the  Association  ac- 
cepted the  adoption,  thus  forsaking  those  who 


186  AUTOBIOGBAPHY  OF 

in  the  past  had  aided  in  its  organization  and 
growth,  and  in  part,  at  least,  because  of  its 
undenominational  character.  "The  Association 
is  now  in  its  official  reports  declared  to  be  "the 
left  wing  of  the  Congregational  corps"  (see 
report,  1872) — also  "as  one  of  two  Congrega- 
tional missionary  societies  in  the  South,"  the 
A.  M.  A.  and  the  A.  H.  M.  S.,  and  that  "this 
association,  debarred  from  its  distinctive  work 
at  the  first,  wisely  began  efforts  of  its  own." 
This  "distinctive  work  of  church  planting"  be- 
gan in  1867.  (See  report  of  1883.)  "It  was  not 
a  felt  want  of  the  South  that  there  should  be 
planted  another  denomination."  The  secreta- 
ries of  the  A.  M.  A.  said:  "Our  Congrega- 
tional churches,  whilst  it  is  important  to  plant 
them,  are  not  the  first  need.  They  can  enter 
but  slowly.  The  people  do  not  appreciate 
them  nor  ask  for  them."  (See  report  for 
December,  1882.)  They  might  have  added 
that,  except  in  the  cities  or  where  there  was  a 
large  Northern  population  such  churches  have 
been  very  small.  The  truth  is,  that  Con- 
gregationalism, like  Methodism  or  Presby- 
terianism,  is  a  sect,  a  part  of  the  body, 
named  and  recognized  as  such;  not  worse  than 
others,  but   one    of   them.     The  churches  in 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  187 

this  denomination  have  their  creeds,  and  these, 
as  a  rule,  are  sectarian,  so  uniformly  so  that 
the  national  council  at  Burial  Hill  declared: 
"We  are  Calvinistic  in  our  faith."  Samuel 
Wolcot  says:  "The  Methodists  receive  what 
is  called  the  Arminian  system;  we  the 
Calvinistic."  Joseph  E.  Roy,  secretary  of  the 
American  Missionary  Association,  in  his 
Manual  for  Congregational  Churches,  says: 
"We  adhere  to  the  faith  of  the  primitive 
churches  held  by  our  fathers  and  substantially 
embodied  in  the  confessions  and  platforms  as 
set  forth  in  the  synods  of  1648  and  1680." 
These  platforms  are  intensely  Calvinistic. 
Again,  he  says  we  are  "one  branch  of  Christ's 
people,  adhering  to  our  peculiar  faith  and 
order."  Again  he  says,  "Congregationalists 
hold  that  baptism  should  be  given  to  the  in- 
fant children  of  believers."  (P.  13.)  The 
National  Council  of  churches  appointed  a 
committee  of  twenty-one  eminent  divines,  to 
draft  a  creed  and  confession  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Congregational  churches.  That  part 
of  the  eleventh  article  thus  prepared,  which 
refers  to  baptism,  reads  as  follows:  "We  be- 
lieve that  baptism  is  to  be  administered  to  be- 
lievers and  their  children."    Joseph  Cook  re- 


188  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

garded  this  creed  as  divisive.  He  said:  "It 
would  shut  out  Dr.  Hackett,  Pres.  Wayland 
and  thousands  of  others."  This  creed  had  a 
national  endorsement  at  the  National  Council 
at  Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1S90.  Certain  dele- 
gates from  Georgia  were  accepted  because  it 
was  declared  that  "they  have  adopted  our 
creed  and  our  polity."  It  proves  nothing  to 
say  that  Congregationalists  are  less  sectarian 
than  others.  It  is  not  the  amount  of  evil,  but 
the  fact  that  an  evil  principle  is  supported. 
We  have  long  since  known  that  it  was  the 
moderate  slaveholders  that  made  slavery  re- 
spectable. 

I  had  in  1847  withdrawn  from  the  Presby- 
terian church  because  of  its  persistent  con- 
nection with  slaveholding,  and  in  the  same 
year  refused  aid  from  the  Home  Missionary 
Society  because  of  its  persistent  support  of 
slaveholding  churches; — and  for  the  same 
reason  the  founders  of  the  American  Mission- 
ary Association  withdrew  their  support  and 
all  association  with  that  society.  And  now  I 
feel  that  I  must  refuse  all  aid  from  the  Ameri- 
can Association  because  of  its  support  of 
sectarianism,  and  its  aggressive  work  in 
building  up  denominationalism;    confessedly  a 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  189 

great  wrong,  a  great  hindrance  to  truth  and 
righteousness. 

I  said,  too,  "Congregationalism,  like  the 
other  denominations,  is  an  ecclesiasticism,  hav- 
ing more  or  less  control  over  its  ministers  and 
churches.  In  the  language  of  its  own  authori- 
ties: 'Congregationalists  do  not  approve  of 
:he  name  Independents,  and  are  abhorrent  to 
such  principles  of  independency  as  would 
shut  them  from  giving  an  account  of  their 
matters  to  neighboring  churches  regularly  de- 
manding it  of  them.'  'Congregationalism  is 
a  communion  of  churches  bound  together  by 
ties  similar  to  those  which  bind  together  mem- 
bers of  a  single  church.'  All  this  designates 
a  party — associated  on  opinions  to  which  all 
believers  could  not  subscribe.  As  such  it  is 
a  division  in  the  body  of  our  Lord." 

I  said,  "The  division  of  Christians  into  sects 
and  denominations  is  contrary  to  the  letter  and 
the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  a  hindrance  to  re- 
forms, and  to  the  greatest  progress  of  Christ's 
kingdom.  As  such,  I  may  not  bid  it  God- 
speed." It  was  said  to  me,  "Neither  you  nor 
the  local  church  need  take  the  name  of  Con- 
gregationalist — stand  as  you  are."  But  I  re- 
plied, "While  I  do  not  question  your  motives 


190  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

nor  depreciate  the  good  work  you  are  able  to 
accomplish,  in  some  respects,  I  cannot  approve 
of  your  methods.  I  shall  be  reported  in  the  Con- 
gregational Year  Book;  and  as  receiving  your 
aid.  It  would  not  be  acting  in  good  faith  with 
you  or  with  my  own  conscience  to  accept 
your  beneficence  and  protest  against  your 
policy  as  radically  wrong."  I  declined  the  aid 
of  the  Association.  We  are  not  "Congrega- 
tionalist" — we  accept  no  denominational  ar- 
rangement or  title. 

THE  ASSOCIATION  OF  MINISTERS  AND  CHURCHES. 

Some  of  us  who  were  workers  here  in  Berea 
went,  though  with  expressed  objections, 
into  another  effort  for  what  we  then  con- 
ceived might  be  necessary  to  the  maintenance 
of  truth  and  the  highest  efficiency.  We 
formed  "an  Association  of  Ministers  and 
Churches,"  bound  together  by  a  constitution 
which,  though  on  a  very  catholic  basis,  was 
nevertheless  an  ecclesiasticism  and  a  departure 
from  what  now  seems  to  us  the  primitive 
order,  and  which  involved  church  responsibili- 
ties. The  objections  to  this  arrangement 
were  set  forth  in  an  article  in  the  Berea 
Evangelist,  and  in  the  following  words: 

i.     An      "Association      of    Ministers    and 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  191 

Churches"  is  a  departure  from  the  primitive 
order.  The  primitive  order  was  to  leave  each 
church  strictly  independent.  Each  local 
church  chose  its  own  officers,  disciplined  its 
own  offenders,  and  tried  its  own  teachers. 
The  local  church,  after  the  canon  of  Scripture 
was  established,  was  the  sole  judge  of  fitness, 
of  order,  of  doctrine, — no  space  left  for  hier- 
archies or  ecclesiasticisms.  The  divine  pat- 
tern was  complete  and  sufficient.  This  seems 
to  us  the  New  Testament  doctrine,  and  while 
we  do  not  make  its  acceptance  a  condition  of 
our  fellowship,  it  ought  at  least  to  be  a  rule 
for  our  own  conduct. 

2.  Organizing  "ministers  and  churches" — 
a  class — into  an  association,  on  a  basis  which, 
however  catholic,  if  the  usage  prevails  of  ex- 
tending the  immunities  and  privileges  of  the 
Association  only  to  those  who  are  members  of 
the  body,  and  only  to  such  members  of  the 
churches  as  are  delegates,  shows  that  the 
Association  is  a  sect, — separated  from  others; 
then  they  become  a  clan. 

Individual  Christians  may  come  up  from  all 
parts  of  the  district,  meet  in  convention,  de- 
liberate and  devise,  and  return  to  their 
respective  homes  or  churches,  and  not  be  a 
clan.        j 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

3.  By  organizing  as  an  "Association  of 
Ministers  and  Churches"  we  incur  associate 
responsibilities,  and  guilt,  if  crime  is  per- 
sistently fellowshipped  in  the  Association. 
God  holds  churches  responsible  for  the  con- 
duct of  their  members.  (1  Cor.  v:  13:  2 
John  Ti ;  Rev.  2:  14.)  Not  individual  min- 
isters only,  but  churches,  are  members  of  the 
Association,  and  we,  as  members  of  the  body, 
are  responsible  for  their  conduct  in  bidding 
God  speed  to  wrong  doers, — such  as  swear  to 
conceal  crime,  take  blasphemous  oaths,  and 
expurgate  the  name  of  Christ  from  the  Scrip- 
tures they  use,  or  the  prayers  they  offer  in 
their  lodges.  Some  of  the  churches  of  the 
Association  we  then  had,  held  and  received 
such  persons  to  their  membership.  But  if  in- 
dividuals or  churches  are  not  constituent  parts, 
then  they  are  not  responsible  for  each  other's 
actions.  If  one  or  a  dozen  individual  mem- 
bers of  a  church  should,  of  their  own  accord, 
go  to  a  Christian  convention,  and  the  con- 
vention should  do  any  wrong  or  unwise  thing, 
the  church  of  which  those  individuals,  are 
members  would  not  be  responsible.  These 
individuals  would  not  go  as  delegates,  or  rep- 
resentatives, or  agents    of    the  church.     But 


JOHN  G,  FEE.  193 

if  that  church  should  be  an  integral  part  of  an 
ecclesiastical  association,  and  send  to  a  meet- 
ing of  this  association  delegates  as  repre- 
sentatives,— agents, — for  the  church,  then  the 
church  would  be  responsible  for  the  acts  of  the 
association  so  long  as  it  should  continue  fel- 
lowship with  it;  and  if  the  association,  or  any 
part  of  the  churches  composing  it,  should 
commit  sin,  all  the  members  of  the  association 
would  be  partakers  of  the  sin  so  long  as  they 
should  fellowship  the  sinner. 

The  Association  of  Churches  and  Ministers 
was  abandoned.  Most  of  the  members 
favored  the  calling  of  conventions  of  individ- 
ual Christians,  to  promote  mutual  fellowship 
and  to  extend  the  work  of  evangelization. 
Such  a  convention  was  called  and  adopted  the 
plan  for  a  missionary  association  presented  in 
the  following  circular: 

THE    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONARY    ASSOCIATION 
OF    KENTUCKY. 

The  reader  will  ask,  Why  another  organi- 
zation? We  answer,  that  while  the  religious 
denominations,  and  the  missionary  societies 
that  represent  them,  seek  to  convert  men  to 
Christ,  they  make  a  distinction  between  de- 
nominational and  Christian  fellowship  by  ap- 


194  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

pending  doctrines,  polities  and  characteristics 
not  essential  to  Christian  life  and  character. 
Such  a  distinction  is  manifestly  unwarranted 
by  the  Word  of  God,  is  contrary  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  apostle,  "that  there  be  no  schism 
in  the  body"  (i  Cor.  12:  25),  and  the  prayer 
of  our  Saviour,  "that  they  may  all  be  one" 
(John  17:  21).  Such  denominational  divis- 
ions beget  weakness,  and  tempt  men  for  sake 
of  numbers  to  receive  to  their  fellowship  per- 
sons living  in  un-Christ-like  practices,  such  as 
connection  with  the  secret  lodge  system,  the 
use,  manufacture  and  sale  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  and  the  spirit  and  practice  of  caste  in 
the  "household  of  faith."  Because  so  many 
Christians  have  been  "carnal  and  walk  as 
men,"  they  have  separated  those  whom  God 
hath  joined  together,  and  divided  the  Body 
wherein  "there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  cir- 
cumcision nor  uncircumcision,  Barbarian, 
Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  but  Christ  is  all  and 
in  all." 

There  are  in  Kentucky  and  other  States, 
churches  that  are  now,  and  for  years  have 
been,  separate  from  these  denominational  or- 
ganizations and  un-Christ-like  practices.  They 
neec    aid   in    pastoral    support    and    in    their 


JOHN  G.  FEE,  195 

efforts  to  extend  the  Gospel.  They  propose 
no  separation  from  the  whole  family  of  Christ, 
nor  even  an  association  with  each  other  as  a 
distinctive  body.  They  find  no  warrant  for  a 
separate  association  of  churches  in  the  Word 
of  God,  and  believe  that  such  separate  asso- 
ciations tend  only  to  a  forbidden  schism  in  the 
body  of  our  Lord. 

The  Christian  Missionary  Association  which 
asks  your  aid,  is  made  up  not  of  churches,  as 
such,  but  of  individuals.  This  association  has 
been  regularly  incorporated,  as  an  association, 
by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky.  This  Asso- 
ciation, at  their  regular  meetings,  will  hear 
reports,  audit  accounts,  vote  appropriations, 
appoint  missionaries,  and  an  executive  board 
to  aid  in  its  objects,  who  also  may  send  out 
laborers  and  who  shall  supervise  the  work  of 
evangelization. 

This  association  seeks  the  unification  of  all 
believers  in  Christ,  and  their  united  opposition 
to  all  known  iniquity.  We  aim  to  conserve 
the  material  and  moral  resources  of  the  church 
by  bringing  together,  as  far  as  practicable,  all 
Christians  in  any  given  locality,  on  the  basis  of 
a  common  unity  in  Christ.  Whilst  we  shall 
give  aid  to  those  seeking  the  suppression  of 


196  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  use  of  and  traffic  in  intoxicating  drinks,  and 
in  opposing  all  secret  orders,  we  shall  espe- 
cially seek  to  send  out  and  assist  those  evan- 
gelists who  shall  preach  Christ  in  all  the  full- 
ness of  his  character,  baptizing  all  thus  con- 
verted into  his  name,  and  organizing  them 
into  .  undenominational  churches,  whose  onty 
head  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  present 
Executive  Board  is  located  at  Berea,  Madison 
County,  Kentucky,  and  will  receive  and  dis- 
burse all  funds  as  directed  by  the  donor. 

J.  G.  Fee,  President. 

H.  H.  Hinman,  Cor.  Sec'y- 

Alfred  Titus,  )  ^         0     , 

}  Rec.    bees. 
James  Van  Winkle,  ) 

S.  G.  Hanron,  Treas. 
The  readers  will  see  in  all  these  efforts 
there  has  been  a  continuous  purpose  to  have 
the  church  free  from  all  complicity  with  wrong 
doing, — have  it  free  from  all  ecclesiasticisms 
that  embarrass  the  utterance  of  truth,  or  hin- 
der reforms  and  involve  associate  responsi- 
bility or  guilt, — an  effort  to  plant  churches  as 
planted  by  our  Lord  and  his  apostles, — inde- 
pendent and  undenominational.  The  divine 
pattern  will  yet  be  found  to  be  the  wisest  and 
most  efficient.     Perhaps,  on  this   point,  I  can 


JOHN  O.  FEE.  197 

do  the  reader  no  better  service  than  by  di- 
recting his  attention  to  an  address  the  writer 
delivered  before  the  Christian  convention 
held  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  May  21-23,  1890. 

AN  ADDRESS,  BY    JOHN  G.  FEE. 

Delivered  before  the  late  Christian  Union  Convention, 
held  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  May  21-23,  1890. 

The  object  of  this  convention,  as  set  forth  in 
the  call,  is  to  suggest  ways  and  devise  means 
by  which  to  secure  the  visible  union  of  all 
true  Christians  in  any  given  locality,  as  the 
one  church  of  that  locality;  and  this  union  on 
the  basis  of  manifested  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  as  the  Saviour 
from  sin. 

As  announced  in  the  programme,  I  propose 
to  show  "wherein  this  movement  differs  from 
the  denominations  around  us." 

All  the  denominations,  in  all  that  is  peculiar 
to  them  as  such,  begin  with  opinions — opin- 
ions about  a  doctrine,  about  a  rite,  a  polity, 
and  in  their  distinctive  work  build  upon  these 
opinions.  We  begin  with  and  build  upon  a 
person, — the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Saviour  from  sin;  and  "other  foun- 
dations can  no  man  lay." 

That  Jesus    Christ,  the   Son    of   the  living 


198  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

God,  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  is 
the  creed  of  the  Gospel. 

Belief  on  him  is  the  condition  of  salvation. 
"Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved." 

Manifested  faith  in  him,  as  the  Saviour  from 
sin,  is  the  reason  for  fellowship  and  co-opera- 
tion. 

This  faith  in  a  person,  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  induced  as  it  is  by  the  truth  and  Spirit 
of  God,  carries  with  it  a  radical  change  in  the 
believer;  an  entire  conformity  of  will,  of  affec- 
tion, of  life  to  the  Lord  Jesus. 

This  is  seen  from  the  very  import  of  the 
original  word  (Pisteuo},  translated  "believe." 
This  word  implies  not  mere  intellectual  assent 
to  a  fact,  even  the  fact  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of 
God,  but  the  word,  when  used  to  designate 
faith  in,  or  belief  on  a  person,  implies  more; 
it  implies  committal.  This  is  so  clearly  true 
that  the  word  is  sometimes  translated  commit, 
— "Jesus,  knowing  the  hearts  of  all  men,  com- 
mitted not  himself  to  them."    John  2:  24. 

The  soul  that  thus  believes  on,  commits 
itself  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  opens  the  door  of  the 
heart  to  Christ,  and  in  so  doing  becomes  "a 
new   creature."     Pertinent  are    the  words  of 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  199 

the  apostle,  "He  that  believeth  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ"  (commits  himself  to  Jesus  as  the 
Christ)  "is  born  of  God." 

Such  a  believer  is  more  than  a  mere  moral- 
ist; more  than  a  mere  humanitarian;  more 
than  a  mere  professor;  he  is  "a  new  creature." 

Opinions  about  a  doctrine,  a  rite  or  a  polity, 
however  correct,  carry  with  them  no  such 
radical  change  of  heart  and  character;  no 
sense  of  forgiveness,  peace  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Again,  this  faith  in  Christ  is  simple;  a  child 
can  comprehend  it;  a  child  knows  what  faith 
in  a  person  is.  It  can  believe  on  and  trust  in 
a  parent  or  a  friend.  Also  a  child  exercising 
this  faith  can  have  a  conscious  experience  and 
can  tell  that  experience, — can  tell  that  it  trusts 
in  Jesus  as  its  Saviour.  But  this  child,  whilst 
it  can  confess,  trust  in  Jesus,  and  be  fitted  tor 
baptism  and  a  place  in  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ,  cannot  say  it  understands  the  five 
points  of  Calvinism,  nor  the  twenty-five  arti- 
cles of  Methodist  Discipline,  nor  the  thirty- 
nine  articles  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

Again,  this  faith  in  Christ  is  all  comprehen- 
sive, secures  all  moral  excellence.  Faith  in 
Christ,  belief  on  him,  is  committal  to  him  who 


200  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

is  holy,  harmless  and  undefiled,  the  one  "in 
whom  dwells  all  the  fullness  of  the  God-head 
bodily."  This  faith  then  secures  all  moral  ex- 
cellence. Not  so  with  mere  opinions;  they 
have  no  transforming  power. 

The  devils  believe  facts  concerning  Christ; 
give  intellectual  assent,  but  no  committal  to 
Christ,  and  are  devils  still.  Many  of  the  slave- 
holders were  orthodox,  "sound  in  the  faith," 
in  the  sense  of  opinion,  but  were  still  monsters 
of  iniquity. 

Whilst  it  will  be  conceded  that  faith  in  a 
person,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  is  simple  and 
comprehensive,  the  question  will  be  asked, 
"What  about  baptism  and  all  good  works?" 
We  reply,  the  soul  that  believes  on  Christ 
(commits  itself  to  him)  must,  from  the  very 
nature  of  the  case,  obey  Christ, — in  baptism, 
in  all  things  commanded  by  him,  must  con- 
form readily  to  his  entire  life ;  and  thus  in  the 
word  and  the  life  of  the  living  person,  have  a 
moral  standard  in  the  light  of  which  to  test 
the  character  of  secret  orders,  caste  spirit,  in- 
temperate habits,  all  individual  acts  and  social 
customs.  Thus  the  creed  we  avow  is  divine, 
simple,  and  all  comprehensive. 

It  will  be  said  the  denominations  have  this 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  201 

creed  and  this  faith  in  Christ  in  common  with 
you.  True;  but  they  add  to  the  divine  plan 
— add  something  else,  and  build  distinctively 
on  this  something  else.  They  "lay  other  foun- 
dations" as  the  basis  of  fellowship  and  co-op- 
eration, and  whilst  they  recognize  true  believ- 
ers as  Christians,  they  co-operate  ecclesiasti- 
cally only  with  those  of  certain  opinions,  and 
thus  build  parties,  sects.  Every  denomination 
is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  stated.  We  be<nn 
with  the  Lutheran.  A  bit  of  history  will  viv- 
ify the  illustration. 

For  the  first  thirteen  years  of  the  Refor- 
mation Protestants  were  undivided.  They  had 
union  on  Christ.  D'Aubigne  says  there  exis- 
ted at  that  time  in  the  evangelical  body  no 
sects,  hatred  or  schisms;  Christian  unity  was  a 
reality.  The  renewed  disciples  of  Christ 
presented  themselves  to  the  Pope,  to  the  em- 
peror, to  the  world  and  to  the  scaffold  as 
forming  one  body.  Carlstadt,  speaking  of 
Protestants,  said,  "We  are  but  one  body,  one 
house,  one  people;  we  live  and  die  by  one  and 
the  same  Saviour." 

There  was  union  on  Christ  but  difference  in 
opinion  in  what  Zwingle  termed  "secondary 
matters."     Luther    and    Zwingle    differed    in 


202  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

opinion  about  the  eucharist,  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. At  the  conference  at  Marburg,  Luther 
said,  "I  believe  that  Christ's  body  is  in 
heaven,  and  that  Christ's  body  is  in  the  bread, 
as  the  sword  is  in  the  scabbard."  *  *  "The 
sacrament  of  the  altar  is  the  sacrament  of  the 
very  body  and  the  very  blood  of  Jesus 
Christ."  This  opinion  of  actual  presence  he 
reaffirmed  at  Augsburg,  Smalcald,  and  at 
Wittemburg.     At   the   latter  he  added,  as  a 

modification,  the  phrase  "spiritual  manduca- 
tion."  To  this  modified  opinion  he  prefixed 
other  opinions  about  depravity,  original  sin, 
inability  and  imputation.  With  these  opinions, 
which  he  afterward  again  modified,  he  formed 
a  creed  for  a  party,  which  party  soon  took  a 
name  by  which  to  designate  the  party  from 
the  rest  of  the  body.  Thus  began  sects  and 
denominations  early  in  the  Reformation. 

Lutheranism  has  undergone  many  modifi- 
cations in  different  countries  and  at  different 
times.  These  frequent  modifications  of  the 
creed,  like  the  continued  modifications  of  the 
creeds  of  all  other  denominations,  show  that 
these  creeds  are  but  the  fluctuating  opinions 
of  men.     The  divine  creed  changes  not. 

Another  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  de- 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  203 

nominations  begin  with  and  build  upon  opin- 
ions may  be  drawn  from  the  Presbyterian  de- 
nomination. The  brethren  in  this  denomina- 
tion are  of  the  opinion  that  the  government  of 
the  Church  should  be  by  elders;  that  the  au- 
thority of  their  ministers  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
administer  the  ordinances  and  feed  the  flock, 
is  through  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  imposition 
of  dthe  hands  of  the  Presbytery. 

These  Presbyterian  brethren  are  also  of 
the  opinion  that  the  five  points  of  Calvinism 
are  the  correct  interpretation  of  certain  por- 
tions of  the  Word  of  God.  With  this  polity 
and  with  these  opinions  of  doctrine  they  form 
a  creed  and  build  a  party  upon  it. 

The  denomination  known  as  Congregation- 
alists  present  another  illustration.  Congrega- 
tionalists  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  local  church  should  be  by  the 
congregation;  that  local  churches  should  be 
in  ecclesiastical  fellowship,  united  in  associa- 
tions or  councils.  (See  report  of  Committee 
of  the  National  Council  in  1889.) 

For  a  creed,  Congregationalists  first 
adopted  the  Savoy  platform;  then  in  this 
country,  after  a  time,  adopted  the  Cambridge 
platform — both    platforms  are  intensely   Cal- 


204  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

vinistic.  In  the  National  Council  of  1865  the 
Congregationalists  there  declared  that  their 
faith,  as  a  denomination,  "is  Calvinistic."  The 
creed  drafted  by  the  commission  appointed  by 
the  National  Council  in  1884  is  a  modified 
creed  of  twelve  articles, — articles  which  many 
Christians  cannot  accept.  A  clause  in  the 
eleventh  article  affirms  that  "baptism  is  to  be 
administered  to  believers  and  their  children," 
a  clause  which  Joseph  Cook  said  would  ex- 
clude Francis  Wayland,  Dr.  Hackett  and 
thousands  of  other  Christians. 

The  creed  received  a  national  sanction  at 
the  recent  meeting  at  Worcester,  Mass., 
where,  as  a  reason  for  receiving  delegates 
from  the  State  of  Georgia,  it  was  said  "they 
accept  our  polity  and  adhere  to  the  creed  set 
forth  by  our  Commission  in  1884."  Thus 
Congregationalism  has  its  polity,  its  associa- 
tion of  churches  and  its  amended  creed, — a 
creed  built  upon  the  shifting  opinions  of  men 
and  the  distinctive  features  of  a  party. 

The  formation  of  the  Methodist  denomina- 
tion affords  another  illustration.  For  some 
fifteen  years  before  our  Revolutionary  war, 
vigorous  missionary  efforts  were  carried  on  in 
several  of  the   Southern  States  of  this  Union 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  205 

under  the  labors  of  Wesley,  Whitfield  and 
others.  The  converts  worshipped  for  a  time, 
not  as  a  denomination,  but  in  local  churches 
or  societies;  some  of  them  simply  with  Wes- 
ley's rules.  Efforts  were  made  to  form  a 
denomination.  These  were  as  often  resisted. 
At  length,  in  1784,  under  the  labors  of  Coke 
and  Asbury,  a  convention  was  called,  a  propo- 
siiion  for  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  association 
was  submitted  and  accepted.  Twenty-four 
articles  of  faith,  with  an  episcopal  form  of 
government,  and  the  name  of  Methodist  Epis- 
copal as  that  by  which  to  designate  the  body, 
was  also  accepted.  The  polity,  the  name,  and 
a  fourth  part  of  the  articles  of  faith  were  then 
and  now  are  such  that  thousands  of  Chris- 
tians cannot  accept  them;  they  are  divisive. 
The  denomination,  like  other  denominations, 
is  built  upon  opinions,  and  is  a  schism  in  the 
body  of  Christ. 

The  Baptist  denomination  presents  another 
illustration.  The  Baptist  brethren  are  of  the 
opinion  that  the  original  Greek  word,  Baptizo, 
when  used  to  designate  action,  means  im- 
merse; and  should  have  been  translated  so  in 
our  version;  and  that  the  right  of  baptism 
should  be  administered  only  to  believers. 


206  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

This,  after  much  care  and  study,  is  my  own 
opinion,  and  I  act  accordingly, — strive  to  live 
up  to  my  convictions.  Here  I  must  stop,  for 
I  recognize  the  fact  that  in  our  version  we 
have  not  a  translation  of  the  original  word,  but 
only  the  original  Greek  word,  with  an  English 
termination  affixed.  I  also  recognize  the  fact 
that  ninety  and  nine  out  of  every  hundred 
true  believers  are  unable  to  translate;  and  that 
they  must  of  necessity  interpret.  As  a  Prot- 
estant, as  a  brother,  I  must  grant  to  manifest 
believers  the  right  of  private  interpretation ; 
especially  when  it  is  conceded  that  the  mis- 
take in  interpretation  may  be  consistent  with 
Christian  life  and  character. 

I  believe  our  Pedo-baptist  brethren  have 
made  a  mistake  in  their  act  of  confession  and 
consecration,  but  they  have  nevertheless  made 
confession  and  consecration,  though  they  have 
erred  in  the  form  of  the  act.  The  mistake  in 
the  manner  of  action  does  not  destroy  Chris- 
tian character, — evidence  of  true  faith  in 
Christ  as  the  Saviour  from  sin.  Again,  my 
belief  is  that  our  Pedo-baptist  brethren,  in 
their  act  of  consecration,  have  omitted  an  im- 
portant feature  of  a  true  baptism;  the  sym- 
bolization  of  "death  to  sin  and  resurrection  to 


JOHN  G.  FEE,  207 

newness  of  life";  nevertheless,  by  their  trust 
in  Christ  they  have  the  fact,  death  to  sin  and 
resurrection  to  a  new  life.  They  have  failed, 
as  I  believe,  to  symbolize  the  fact. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  my  Pedo-baptist 
brethren  have  omitted  the  impressive  emblem 
of  the  death,  burial  and  resurrection  of  our 
Lord;  but  I  know  that  from  other  sources  in 
God's  Word  they  do  teach  these  precious 
facts. 

It  will  be  said,  you  insist  upon  correct  opin- 
ions about  Christ;  why  not  about  the  word 
baptize?  I  reply,  I  do  believe  and  teach,  as 
revealed  in  God's  Word,  that  Christ  is  the 
"eternal  life,"  and  not  a  secondary  or  after 
existence;  that  he  is  the  "Word  who  was 
with  God  and  was  God" — "God  manifest  in 
the  flesh";  but  the  thing  I  insist  upon  is  not 
opinion  about  Christ,  but  the  actual  fact  of 
trust  in  committal  to  him  as  the  personal  Sav- 
iour from  sin.  This  is  vital  to  life  and  char- 
acter; but  correct  opinions  about  the  import 
of  the  word  baptize,  or  the  design  of  baptism, 
are  not  vital  in  the  case  of  the  true  believer; 
the  mistake  does  not  destroy  Christian  char- 
acter. 

With  Alex.    Campbell  we  concur  when  he 

H 


208 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


says,  "There  are  Christians  among  the  sects." 
We  think  it  is  best  to  treat  these  Chris- 
tians as  such;  believing  that  if  anxious  in- 
quirers shall  be  freed  from  the  bias  of  sects 
and  denominational  teachings,  they  will  gen- 
erally apprehend  the  truth  of  God's  Word  in 
reference  to  the  action  and  design  of  bap- 
tism. Our  Baptist  brethren,  however,  are  of 
the  opinion  that  church  fellowship  should  be 
extended  only  to  immersed  believers;  and 
upon  this  opinion  form  a  party,  and  take  a 
name  by  which  to  distinguish  the  party  from 
the  rest  of  the  body. 

What  we  have  said  of  the  denominations 
previously  referred  to,  is  true  of  all  other  de- 
nominations, even  of  those  who  have  no  writ- 
ten creed,  or  those  who  call  themselves  by 
the  Catholic  name  "Christians."  A  creed 
may  be  as  real  when  oral,  as  when  written. 
We  may  take  an  illustration — opposition  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  or  the  doctrine  of  the 
"distinct  personality  of  the  Son  from  the 
Father,"  or  baptism  for  the  remission  of  sins, 
or  immersion  of  a  believer  as  a  condition  of 
fellowship  and  co-operation,  and  make  accept- 
ance of  any  one  of  these  opinions  the  condi- 
tion of  fellowship   and  co-operation,  and  then 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  209 

take  some  name  by  which  to  designate  the 
association,  and  you  will  have  the  essential 
elements  of  a  denomination,  though  there  be 
no  written  creed. 

The  Catholic  name  "Christian"  does  not 
alter  the  nature  of  the  association.  The  name 
Christian  may  be  prostituted  from  its  high 
purpose  of  designating  Christian  character, — 
a  follower  or  followers  of  Christ,  to  that  of 
designating  a  party, — a  part  of  the  body  of 
Christ,  separated  on  an  opinion  not  necessary 
to  oneness  in  Christ,  This  may  be  with  or 
without  an  association  of  churches. 

The  error,  then,  of  denominationalism  is  in 
taking  an  opinion  about  some  doctrine,  rite  or 
polity,  and  making  a  party  on  that  opinion, 
rite  or  polity,  and  taking  a  name,  however 
Catholic,  by  which  to  designate  that  party 
from  the  rest  of  the  body  of  Christ. 

The  question  will  be  asked,  "Is  not  the 
local  church  you  advocate  a  section,  a  part  of 
the  body,  and  that,  too,  with  a  name  by  which 
to  designate  it?" 

We  reply,  yes;  but  not  in  the  reprehensible 
sense  of  the  word;  the  sense  condemned  by  the 
Word  of  God.  It  is  right  that  the  followers 
of  Christ  be  separated  from  the  -worlds — be  in 


210  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

this  respect  a  section,  and  that  the  church  thus 
separated  wear  the  name   of  Christ,  its  head. 

Whilst,  then,  the  true  followers  of  Christ 
are,  by  their  new  birth,  their  baptism,  their 
worship,  their  lives,  separated  from  the  world, 
they  are  not  to  be  separated  one  from  another ; 
they  are  to  be  one  body,  wearing  the  one 
name, — the  name  of  Christ,  their  head.  But 
the  division  of  the  body  of  believers  into  sects, 
parties,  and  this  on  mere  opinions  about  doc- 
trines, rites  or  polities,  with  names  by  which 
to  designate  these  separate  parties,  is  not 
right.  Such  separation  is  the  sin  of  schism, 
condemned  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  de- 
plored by  good  men  and  women.  W^  then 
build  on  Christ,  a  person,  and  seek  to  convert 
men  to  him  in  all  the  fullness  of  his  character, 
baptize  in  his  name,  and  gather  together  for 
worship  and  thus  constitute  the  one  church  of 
the  locality;  not  as  a  party,  but  as  apart  of 
the  whole  body  of  Christ,  wearing  his  name, 
and  his  name  only. 

For  evangelization  we  may  have  Mission 
Boards  appointed  by  conventions  composed 
of  individuals,  and  thus  be  as  undenomination- 
al as  the  American  Bible  Society  itself. . 

This  board,  or   executive  committee,    may 


JOHN  G.  FEE.  211 

receive  funds,  commission  evangelists  and 
teachers,  who  shall  devote  themselves  to  the 
one  great  work  of  converting  souls  to  Christ 
in  all  the  fullness  of  his  character. 

Then  will  the  church  "come  up  out  of  the 
wilderness,  leaning  upon  the  arm  of  her  be- 
loved, fair  as  the  morn,  clear  as  the  sun,  and 
terrible  as  an  armv  with  banners," 

THE     END, 


Bridgeport  National 
Bindery,  Inc. 

JULY  2005 


